Resistance: Futile
by Miles Depth
Summary: Follow the adventures of Fiona Fox and Miles Prower (Tails) in the years leading up to Julian Kintobor's (Robotnik) take over. In their quest for revenge and love the world slowly falls apart around them as they struggle to live with their decisions and find any promise of hope. Part II of the Resistance series takes place before Resistance chronologically.
1. A Few Bad Men

The obligatory stuff:

None of the Sega & DiC characters are mine, I don't in any way claim that they are. They ideas and dialog however, are mine and not representative of Sega or DiC and their opinions or views.

Ideas and characters such as Jake are mine and I ask people to respect them. Again ideas and dialog in this story are mine and represent my work using copyrighted characters.

The Resistance series takes place in a fictional world of my own devise. I ignore most precedents in terms of world and setting provided by Archie, Sega or Dic in favor of creating my own. I wanted to write a story about how the characters would act in a war against Julian Kintobor (Robotnik) in a more familiar setting where humans are still part of every day life. The timeframe is set not that far into the future and yet should in many ways seem older (think 90's era infrastructure with tech from 100 years from now). Populations of people depending on their location will act differently. This is also true for characters based on their past and current situations. In short what I am saying is that people may seem OOC, but that is because I am interpreting how they would act given the world and scenarios I am putting them in. I don't like to build a world around predefined notions about characters because it forces too many things. **All of the characters will retain their core personalities as you will see in the end, I have only given them the means to go beyond what they might do in a normal ff.**

Futile is part two of the Resistance series. While it takes place before resistance chronologically, it would still be favorable to read it after Resistance. However, it should still stand on its own and be enjoyable by all. Readers of my first story can expect a lot of similarities between the two as well as plenty of sequences, items, and characters that appeared in the first. This story, much like Resistance, will have the first seven chapters focus on the main character, Fiona, before introducing the secondary character's, Tails, perspective.

Please do keep in mind this story while similar will also be different. I would greatly appreciate feedback and suggestions, especially if you feel like I am drifting too far away from what worked in the past. I know the story starts slow, but it should speed up pretty quick once a certain two tailed fox comes along.

Oddly enough a few weeks ago I noticed, for what ever reason, I started my FanFiction account 4 years ago New Years Day. I thought it would be fun to post the first chapter of this story on New Years for a bit of nostalgia.

Now I am going to stop writing about all of this nonsense and get on with the story.

Please enjoy…

* * *

The red vixen sat behind the steel composite bars staring out into blinding solitude. The walls were stained in a metallic white as the overhead lights washed out any remaining color. Day or night there was no reprieve from the brightness that bled through her eyelids. Fiona sighed deeply to herself as she slumped down to the floor. It had been days since she had been deposited in this prison and the only thing she could do to bide her time was think about how she had ended up in this predicament.

Kintobor and his goons had finally caught up with her. Even despite Miles best efforts, the will of the forces colluding against her was too much. It was as if her worst nightmares had come to life causing the feeling of helplessness to set in quickly, forcing the fox to retreat mentally form the world.

Since her capture, the vixen had been drug around with a black satin shroud over her head as men strong-armed her from place to place until they inevitably forced her into this room. The fact that they hadn't killed her yet suggested they had plans for her still, which didn't amuse her in the least. While she had come to know many twisted people in her life, it was clear Julian was perhaps the most well regarded in this facet, and sitting alive in one of his prisons did nothing to lift her spirits.

All Fiona had wanted was to be free, but the feelings were short lived. Ixis had looked after her, given her advice that served her far better than any other. However, for something as stupid as love she went against what he had taught her as well as her better judgment. The vixen had made room in her heart for another, but all it did was soften her. Tails had promised he would never let her go again, but here she sat well outside his reach. It didn't matter that she could here his shouts of sorrow as the van pulled away, he hadn't done what she had been doing her who life, and that was looking after her.

As the hours smashed into one another, Fiona traced her life backwards through time. It was an odd and somewhat futile endeavor to determine where everything had went wrong. There were so many places where just one tiny decision would have resulted in her sitting anywhere but here. The most obvious memories to target were those of the two tailed fox she still pined for in her dreams, but the problem went back further than that. Her earliest option to escape the clutches of Kintobor went back nearly ten years. The vixen had the misfortune of hearing just a few words that would forever change her outlook on life. The tiny seed of an idea given to her by a passing stranger had taken hold, guaranteeing her fate. With as much vividness as she could, Fiona retreated into her memories over a decade…

* * *

The young fox skipped along the sidewalk without a care in the world. This city was her playground and there was no one to tell her otherwise. People did their best to make her feel out of place, but she paid them no mind. Waltzing in the shadows of tall buildings and humans that pretended to be larger than life was what she did everyday.

Her boot found the stone she had been kicking along the city street, sending it further down the alley. Perhaps if a school would take her she could find the patience to sit down, but the institutions was just one more reminder that their kind was not welcome. Learning was not something she had an aversion to, but was rather almost an innate gift. Reading came easy, as did the knowledge that gained for doing so.

The fox spied a small group of humans at the far end of the one-way street. They were all older by a few years, perhaps thirteen and fourteen. Like a pack of hyenas, they circled their prey, in this case a much younger boy, prodding him until he lashed out. The kid had a lot of fight in him, but it did little to help against the children who were larger in both stature and years.

Fiona rarely took time to involve herself in the affairs of others, but she held a special place in her heart for those that took advantage of people weaker than themselves. Stepping between the kid and the other bullies, she inserted herself into the situation.

"Get out of here fox," the fattest one requested in a stern tone, "this doesn't have anything do with you?"

The vixen didn't move but instead clenched her fist, readying herself for the inevitable. Being raised in the city as a Mobian made her grow up all the more quickly. She took no issue with fighting, even against those bigger than herself. Her father had taught her that backing down only displays weakness, which is what people like those in front of her thrive on.

The kid she was protecting got back to his feet, wiping a small smearing of blood from his jaw. For a moment it felt as if she had a partner in crime when he took his spot next to her. Meanwhile the other boys exchanged uneasy glances that suggested that they were debating whether it was okay to hit a girl.

"She's just a Mobian," one of them pointed our as he stepped into a punch that was meant to knock her out.

Fiona simply sidestepped his attack, letting his arm sail by her muzzle. When his body came into reach she grabbed his shoulders and threw him hard into the wall behind her. Combined with the momentum already moving in that direction, the collision was not kind to him. He collapsed to the ground, eyes full of tears and he massaged fresh scrapes and bruises.

The others were on her in no time but it made no difference, she was faster, stronger, and smarter than they were. Grabbing one if their kicks, the fox left a bully with only one leg to stand on. The vixen refused to let go no matter how hard he tried to pull his foot away. Leading him around as she continued to do battle with her other arm was surprisingly simple.

Seeing the plight of his friends, the last remaining boy was not nearly as hasty with his choices. He threw quick jabs which Fiona turned aside. However, in the end the bully was just as stupid as the rest. All at once he sprinted towards her, threatening to tackle her to the ground. The fox quickly spun her one legged prisoner in his direction causing the two to crash into one another.

Ceasing his chance, the kid she had rescued leapt onto one their chests and let his fists fly. A bloodied lip and off color eye emerged before the third bully was able to pull him off. Fiona could appreciate what it meant to be smaller than your foe, and much like her, this kid seemed dead set on proving to them it meant nothing.

Despite his scrappiness the larger boy was still able to pin him against the brick wall before returning the black eye. When the bully went to hit him again, Fiona grabbed his fist as he cocked it back . Looking to see what his arm was hung up on, he found a gleeful smile and razor sharp canines protruding over her bottom lip. The smell of fear on him was so strong that Fiona was sure even a human would be able to smell it, but if not that, certainly the look on his face would be telling enough.

The vixen brought her own fist across his ugly mug, leaving something to remember her by. The boy promptly teetered for a moment as he stumbled backwards and onto the asphalt. Fiona looked down at the small gang with pity as they lay nearly on top of each other in a pile on the ground. Preying on the week was too often rewarded with success, but not today. The three goons picked themselves up and ran away all the while shouting for help as they looked over their shoulders to make sure they were not being followed.

Turning back to the kid she had saved, Fiona offered a paw. He stared at it with trepidation from where he sat on the pavement. She chuckled at him softly as she dawned a friendlier smile. If Fiona had been him, it would not have been fear that prevented her from reaching for an arm up, but rather pride. When he finally swallowed his, he clasped his hand around hers as she helped return him to his feet.

This kid wasn't so different from her, so she knew better than to expect a thank you.

"What did they want small stuff?" she asked playfully.

"I am taller than you!" he squeaked in response before calming himself. "Same as always, my lunch money."

"Lunch money?" Fiona asked curiously as she looked around at the absence of any schools in the vicinity.

"I am skipping," he continued, "It's stupid and I don't need it to do what I want to do."

_A like minded individual indeed,_ she thought.

The two walked back toward the main road and down the littered sidewalk. The train station lay just out of view a few blocks away, and both seemed to gravitate toward it for fear of sticking around too long. Whether he enjoyed her company or not the fox was unable to tell, but he was smart enough not to leave her side lest the bullies return in force.

"Where do you live?" she asked.

"Upper east," came the boy's response as he nearly spat the answer with both pride and disgust.

"Me too," the vixen replied with an equally smug look.

Their home turf was the least forgiving the city had to offer. Those who lived there knew what it was, a slum, but with a first world twist. Nothing about where they lived was inspiring other than surviving another day. However, despite this tiny similarity between the two, it did not seem to change his opinion of her. It was obvious that he disliked her for what she was and not who she was.

The boy followed her below the streets surface and onto a subway platform. Standing at several arms lengths away for fear of being associated with a Mobian, he waited impatiently for the train with his arms crossed while he tapped his foot against the stone floor.

Fiona had already accepted that she was different. Mobians were few and far between in the cities despite the abundance of work. Ignoring the eyes that followed her on the street had become as easy as breathing. Looking past people's obvious aversions to her lack of a human appearance was slowly becoming just as easy.

"Don't talk much do you?" she asked, not bothering to change the direction of her gaze away from the steel tracks that ran through the tunnels.

It wasn't surprising to hear nothing but the clatter of the approaching train. When the doors opened she stepped inside followed shortly thereafter by the boy. The car was empty and he took the seat opposite of her, never once taking her out of his sight. She couldn't tell whether the boy trusted her or not. It seemed like a farfetched idea, yet here he sat across from her, almost engaging in a conversation.

"Thanks," he finally said, breaking the monotony of static noises that filled the air.

The kid was proud, but not so much so that it was beneath him to show gratefulness.

"Don't mention it."

"My mom says Mobian aren't supposed to be in the city," the boy continued as he swung his feet helplessly in the air while sitting in a chair meant for someone much taller.

"Did she?" Fiona asked trying to sound surprised.

"Mmhmm," he hummed in response, "she says animals have no place in Capital city. Not outside of the zoo anyway. But Julian is going to fix all of that."

Julian she said quietly to herself. The name had been plastered across billboards all over town. The round man pictured in them was running for presidents almost exclusively campaigning on the promise to rid the country of what he called 'vermin'. With men like him and the propaganda that followed, the city was fast becoming more dangerous for the Mobians every day.

"What do you think," the vixen asked not caring much for his mother's opinion on everything, "Should I only be allowed to live in a zoo?"

He wanted to dodge the question, but with no where to run he was left staring at the fox searching for words.

"I like animals," was the best he could do. It was a start at least. "But my mom says I am not supposed to because they killed my dad,"

"Why?" she asked now somewhat curious about his story.

"He was a dominion agent. Mom won't tell me anymore than that. I got his badge though. Wanna see?" he asked as with pride as he dug a brass badge out of his pocket. An iron fist doused in red was overlaid against the city's skyline. Fiona couldn't ever recall seeing a copper badge that looked like the one he had.

"My mom says after I grow up to be big and strong I will become the best dominion agent there ever was."

Fiona couldn't remember the last time her mother had anything positive to say about her. She was too busy to pay any mind to her own daughter. However the fox didn't hold that against her, without either of her parents and their time consuming jobs there would be no home for her to return to.

Feeling herself slide forward in her chair, Fiona put up a hand to brace herself as the Train slowed for its final stop. The boy promptly leapt to the floor and walked out into the station. He didn't seem to mind that she was tagging along. However, a few steps at his side were all it took to get them both into trouble.

"And what are you doing out of school so early young man!?" A voice asked from across the platform.

His face was drained of its color as he turned to greet a person that he obviously did not intend on running into.

"Is this filthy creature following you?" the woman asked as she approached the two of them.

"No ma," he answered politely.

The fox could see him trying to subtly wave her on, but she felt compelled to stay.

"Did she tell you to skip school? Are you friends with this beast?" his mother asked raising her voice with each new question.

"No ma, she saved me."

"Saved you? The only thing this dirty animal will do pollute your mind, that is if it doesn't get around to killing you first! How many times have I told you Jake? Do not talk to Mobians!"

"But the other boys were going to beat him up," Fiona finally interjected.

"How dare you even speak to me. My boy doesn't need help from the likes of you!"

Their charade was starting to gather onlookers. Travelers that should have already departed were stopping to watch as a mother lectured her child and belittled someone else's. Fiona knew better than to let this woman's ignorance affect her, but she could still feel a pressure in her chest building and the need to cry growing.

"My boy can handle himself just fine. Isn't that right Jake?"

The kid nodded his head with reluctance.

Fiona looked down at the ground now regretting her small act of kindness for the day. _Is this the price of doing something good?_ She couldn't help but ask herself. _Where is the reward in being selfless?_

"What are you still doing here?!" the woman screamed. "Shoo!"

Looking back up at his mother, the vixen could detect nothing but hatred in both her gaze and voice. There was no argument to be won, because none could be had against someone so zealous. It would be like to talking with a gratified wall, the surface would always be hard and the words never change.

"I said go!" she yelled even louder while pointing at the stairs. "And don't you ever even so much as look at my boy again! You hear me!?"

Fiona wished she didn't. The fox turned and walked away down trodden with her tail dragging along the station floor. Never had she felt so depressed and embarrassed.

"And I thought rats were the worst part about the subways," she heard the woman say, still loud enough for the crowed to hear.

A single tear escaped the confines of her eyelashes and she was quick to whisk it away with a finger. No one had ever taken her presence so personally. However, her plight had not gone unnoticed and so it would seem that the animosity in the boy's mother brought out some good in others.

"Excuse me there little… little miss," a middle aged business man called out to her in a foreign accent as she headed towards the steps. "Are you okay?"

Fiona nodded her head, but she wasn't fooling anyone.

"Don't listen to her, keep your chin up. Not all of us share her contempt."

Another tear fell from her eye as she fought to keep her embarrassment at bay, but it only compounded upon itself until water flowed from both her eyes.

"Listen here little Mobian," he said in a soothing voice, trying to calm her. "If you want to go places in this city you are going to need to grow some thicker skin. Don't let a witch like that get to you or you won't make it anywhere. Let me let you in on a little secret, the only person that matters is you. No one else is going to look out for you, so the only person you can ever truly count on is yourself."

The vixen didn't care for his pity or his advice, no matter how sound. The only reason he even bothered to stop and speak with her was because he felt bad. Doing something out of guilt was almost as bad as doing nothing at all.

"I don't need your help," she snapped as she marched away defiantly, but it pained her to turn on someone who was only trying to comfort her. After a few steps she stopped and turned.

"No need to be sorry," the man said before she could utter the words, "I don't much care for pity either. Just remember what I said and who knows, perhaps we will run into each other again."

The vixen smiled in response. She recognized him from somewhere. He was a restaurant owner in a neighborhood a few blocks over from hers, but his name escaped her. Although his nightclub was hardly what brought in the cash, even she knew he was one of the best black market dealers in the city. The man in the sleek suit was notorious for his crude punishment on those who didn't pay up.

"Why are you bothering to help me?"

It was the man's turn to grin, "Because a small little fox like you is of very little threat to me, but perhaps a big threat to my enemies."

Fiona found herself wanting to prove he should be afraid, but if he was even half the person the stories made him out to be, it would likely be the last thing she ever did. She watched in silence as he boarded a train, tipping his hat to her as he did so.

_Just another normal day," _the fox told herself as she found the first step back to the surface.

The streets bustled with overloaded vans and a swath of pedestrian traffic. Horns blared as frustrated drivers did their best to navigate the crowded streets. Nothing about this part of town ever seemed to change. People were poor and the conditions in which they lived even poorer. Her family was no exception. Their apartment complex was nothing more than oversized drug den where every junky for miles came to get their fix.

Despite being isolated in the far reaches of the city's underbelly, there was no shortage of people. Even at a healthy two-mile walk from the closest train station, people still turned up in droves to escape the watchful eye of the Dominion. This part of town was nearly out of their grasp and crime, amongst other things, ran rampant in its absence.

The fox stepped over a man who had either passed out or died on her buildings steps before entering into the darkened hallways. Where glass once resided wood planks now covered the windows, making her journey up the stairs all the more interesting. Occasionally one of the addicts would mutter some inaudible words to her but most humans knew better than to bother her. It was not beneath her to scratch or bite.

The landlord had been kind enough to give them one of the bigger rooms tucked away in a far corner where things were quieter. Her parents, unlike many of the other tenants paid their rent. Fiona slid her key into the door and twisted until the deadbolt disengaged.

"Fi is that you, dear?" her father asked from the other room as she let herself in.

"How man times have I told you dad, I am not a deer," she answered back.

He always smiled when she said that, so much so that when she closed her eyes and see it on his face. Her father was sitting in his favorite chair only half watching the TV as he rested.

"What's wrong he asked?" curiously looking at the vixen's saddened face.

"Nothing," she sighed as she plopped herself down in his lap.

Running a paw through her fur, he massaged the back of her ears, "Don't want to talk about it?"

"I don't get it dad?" she proclaimed. "What's the point of helping someone when the only thing you get out of it is pain?"

He was smiling again, she could feel it even though her back was to him.

"I took the time to help this stupid little boy and the only thing it got me was publically humiliated."

"Sweetie, you shouldn't help people because you want something in return, you do it because it is the right thing to do. Now there is some little kid out there who might think more highly of Mobians in the future."

"Not as long as he is living with his mother," the young fox remarked. "That woman wouldn't even let me speak. She thinks we are the enemy."

Her father wasn't smiling anymore, "A fanatic. They are becoming more prolific. I am sorry you had to deal with her on your own."

"It's okay," she replied softly as her mother wandered into the room from the kitchen. "Someone gave me some advice."

"Oh yeah?"

"If I only worry about me then I wont ever have to be let down by anyone else. He told me it would be the only way I would make it anywhere in this city." Fiona said with very little pride.

"And who told you that?" her mom asked in a disappointed voice. "We Mobians need to stick together or we will never survive."

"A man who felt bad for me. He runs the Breaker Inn a few blocks over."

The look on both of her parent's faces went white with fear.

"Stay away from him!" her father said sternly.

"He was only trying to help," the vixen reasoned.

"Listen to your father, Fiona. That man may be open to working with Mobians, but he is far from forgiving or nice. There are good people and there are bad people, dear. He is most certainly a bad one."

"Promise me you will stay away from him," her father added.

Fiona nodded her head in defeat. She had never seen her parents so concerned.

"And speaking of bad people," her dad continued as he eyed the television.

It was the man from the posters, Julian. The round man in his pressed red suit was a sight to behold. His stature suggested he was made of stone and his voice only seemed to confirm it. His small wireframe spectacles covered bloodshot eyes that would guarantee him a victory in any staring contest. Kintobor stood in front of a podium delivering a speech in which he vowed to destroy the vermin infestation that plagued both the city and the country.

"Who is he dad?"

"Just another bad man," came a response laden with distaste and a subtle anger. "Just another bad man."


	2. The Whelp That Got Away

Fiona sat on the other side of the copper's desk, staring into the top of his forehead blankly, waiting for him to take his gaze away from the papers he was scribbling notes on.

"Are you okay?" he asked after noticing the young fox's trance.

The vixen didn't even have the heart to laugh to herself, "Am I supposed to be?" she asked almost curious as to whether she should be.

The man set down his pen and stared back at her. For a moment there was a glimpse of compassion, but it faded as quickly as it came on.

"I suppose not," came his response. "I don't know how anyone could be."

It was hardly the sympathy she deserved, leaving just his reluctance to admit he knew she was right.

"Do you want to run me through it again?" the copper asked as if reliving it might help her somehow.

Fiona rubbed the back of her head where a large bruise still throbbed on the inside of her skull. Each heartbeat caused her so many different types of pain she couldn't figure out which one hurt the most. The fox glanced across the room to where the source of her problems sat in a holding cell, covered in blood that was only partly his own. The chains that held him to the table raddled as shifted his weight uneasily in the chair.

"Will it help you get rid of him?"

The copper shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't care. They were never in the business of helping Mobians, even with something as heinous as this.

"Nothing seems to add up," the officer answered.

"And let me guess," Fiona began, "you don't believe my version of the story?"

The copper's initial lack of a response almost suggested his answer, but at least his words indicated he was willing to give her a chance.

"Haven't made up my mind yet."

The fox let out a long sigh as she stared out the office window, trying to find what little memories were left in her head from that morning. It had started off as what felt like the best day she had had in years. It was unusual for both of her parents to have the same day off, but when they did it actually felt like the young vulpine was part of family.

…

The three of them were walking back from an afternoon in the city, taking their time and enjoying each other's company. That however, for Fiona, meant she was three steps ahead of her parents in everything they did. It was one of the few times she actually acted her age, rushing out in front to show them all of the secrets she had discovered during the days she spent by herself. The fox had found all of the quietest spots in the park along with some of the best local markets that the average city goer would overlook.

Her parents walked hand in hand as they kept a watchful eye on her, never letting her stray too far, even though she ran free by herself every day. When they were able to be there for her, they made every effort to be the perfect mom and dad. Together the three of them made their way back into the slums that they called home. As they rounded the corner onto their street an run of the mill looking man came into view. He was already drunk, which given the part of town he was in was not uncommon. Each one of his steps was messier than the next and no matter how hard Fiona tried to avoid him, the man seemed intent on stumbling into her.

"Watch it mister," the young fox exclaimed as he nearly tripped over her.

"Me watch et?" he slurred as he brought the back of his hand across her muzzle. "Why don ya run back to your hole"

The sheer surprise of the attack sent her to the ground. Had she seen it coming it would have been easy to dodge, but never had a grown man threatened to hit her, let alone actually done so.

"Hey!" she heard her mother yell, "just what the hell do you think you are doing?"

The young fox was not about to let some low life drunk get the better of her. She sprung back to her feet, claws ready. However, she stopped on dime when she felt cold steel pressed against her nose. She had to look cross eyed down at the silver Beretta being aimed at her.

"an watcha think you're do'n?" the man answered back.

Fear was a new feeling for the fox, as she had yet to have a gun pulled on her. Adrenalin coursed through her veins as her mind searched for ways out of the situation while the rest of her remained frozen in terror. Fiona could hear the soft footsteps of her parents as they approached from behind. She wanted to call out to them for help, but the words were stuck in the bottom of her throat.

The man turned the weapon on them when he saw their advance, "nah another step."

The young vixen felt herself inching backwards while her enemy was distracted, but before she could slip out of his grasp he swung the weapon like a club. Her efforts to dodge it were futile and the butt of the gun found the back of her head. The pain was sharp, short and seemed to fade along with all of her other senses as she fell forward. The blackness of nothing enveloped her and much like when she was asleep, time seemed to stand still.

When she woke, it was to the grey concrete of the sidewalk in front of her apartment building. Fiona could feel a set of hands rolling her over and before long she was looking into the face of a paramedic who was prodding her with a stethoscope.

"This one is still alive," he shouted. "Looks like she has a nasty concussion though."

The man in blue coveralls snapped his fingers in front of her face, trying to get her attention, but her eyes kept wandering elsewhere.

"Look here," came his voice again as he waved a small flashlight across her face. "Do you know where you are?"

The fox nodded her head in response, but cut it short when it felt like every movement she made was causing her brain to bounce around inside her skull.

"What about your name, can you tell me that?"

"Fiona," she replied meekly only half sure that she was right.

Her vision drifted again until it found two white sheets on the concrete sidewalk. Each covered a body with a pool of blood underneath. It wasn't until she saw a tail protruding from one of the white cotton blankets did her mind begin to come alive. The vixen jumped upwards avoiding the grasp of the doctor trying to attend to her. She pushed forward until a copper noticed and grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Mom," she said softly, expecting her to respond. "Dad!" the fox called out even louder, but the bodies remained motionless.

The officer released his grip on her as she fell to the ground, tears streaming from her eyes. _What happened?_ The fox asked herself, but no answers surfaced. _This is my fault,_ she couldn't help but think. How the world could go from good to impossibly bad in so little time was lost on her. It was difficult to process, and the emotions building up inside were confusing to say the least.

Even through the prisms in her eyes, Fiona was able to recognize one familiar face. It was the man who had hit her. He was sitting in the back of an ambulance wrapped in a blanket, clothes splattered in blood with a fresh set of scars on his face. Slowly she returned to her feet as she locked eyes with the man.

"You," the vixen said through gritted teeth.

By the time the copper noticed where she was headed it was already too late, the fox was in a full sprint. The man looked on in fear as she ran towards him. _There won't be anything left of you when I am done._

To perhaps every onlookers surprise the vixen had him on the ground in no time as she dragged him from where he sat. There was no shortage of rage for her to call on, and had the paramedic who had been treating her earlier not been so quick to pull her off, the man's injuries surely would have been made even worse.

"Get it off me," the guy screamed as if he were helpless.

_It,_ she reiterated inside her head confirming that this was another one of the fabled fanatics.

"What are you do'n?" the doctor asked calmly as he pulled her off of him.

"You see," the man screamed while he pointed at her, "it's is crazy just like the rest of them."

"Crazy?!" Fiona responded in kind, "You killed them! You killed my mom and dad…"

The copper approached the fox with apprehension, "Just calm down."

"Calm down!" she yelled before filling her eyes with tears again. "How do you expect me to do that?"

No one answered her.

"Put her in the back of my car, I will take care of her," the detective said before returning to the sidewalk.

She had lost the will to fight and instead just sobbed into the paramedic's coveralls as he carried her to the back of a cruiser. The only people in the world who had ever shown her sympathy were dead, leaving her stranded in a place where no one seemed to care about her.

"I am sorry," the man whispered to her. "No one deserves this."

Fiona felt powerless. Even her own body seemed to be giving up its will to live. She didn't take the time to acknowledge the man's pity, because that's all it was and the fox wanted none of it. He set her down in the back of a musty car and shut the door. She watched as he returned to the scene, stopping mid stride to turn and check on her. For a moment she caught his stare and realized that perhaps he was truly sorry, yet it made little difference, it would not bring them back.

Minutes turned into hours and as much as she wanted to close her eyes and wake up from what was beginning to feel more and more like a bad dream, sleep wouldn't seem to take hold. Fiona's breath slowly fogged up the glass as she stared intently out the window trying to make sense of all the commotion happening around her. Her ears perked up when she saw the detective begin to question the man who had killed her parents.

"I already told ya, they came at me!" the murderer said loudly, as if yelling it would make it truer.

"But why?" the copper asked.

"Hell if I know. Have you taken a look around this place? They probably wanted to rob me blind."

"So you shot them?"

"Do you see this?" the man asked as he motioned to the scars on his face? "Do you see what they did to me? Yes I shot them! They would have killed me if I hadn't"

"And what about the little one?"

"What do you mean what about the little one? She was in on it too, probably trying to pick pocket me. Would have killed her too, but I thought she was dead already," he spat. "You should do her a favor and put her out of her misery."

The cop stared blankly back at the man, unsure of how to respond, "at what point did you pull the gun?"

"When I saws em walk'n up to me."

"And they just attacked you anyway?" the detective asked baffled as he scribbled notes down on small pad of paper.

The man was slow to respond realizing how silly what he had just said sounded, "I told ya they was crazy didn't I?"

"Several times in fact," the officer confirmed.

"Well what more do I need to tell you then? Wild animals don't belong in the city with us."

"Just so we are both clear on your story," the detective began, "A group of angry Mobians approached and threatened you. After brandishing your weapon you proceeded to incapacitate the youngest. The remaining two then attacked and you defended yourself."

"Sounds about right to me," the murder responded seemingly proud of himself. "So am I good to go?"

"No," the officer responded. "You discharged a weapon in city limits resulting in death, you get a free trip downtown regardless of what this was."

"But, but they were crazy,"

"You mentioned that already," the officer replied as he headed in Fiona's direction.

When he reached the car the copper opened the door to the driver seat and got in.

"How you do'n kid?" he asked almost sounding concerned.

She crossed her arms.

The detective rolled his eyes again, clearly not amused with any party involved.

"I can't help you unless you help me," he added.

"What do you need?" the vixen asked curiously.

"The truth," the detective requested as he pointed to the murderer, "he isn't giving it to me that's for sure."

"The truth," Fiona laughed. "He was drunk, couldn't even walk straight. After he tripped over me he pulled the gun and cold cocked me. Then my guess is he killed my parents when they tried to save me."

The fox tried to remain calm as the last words tumbled out of her mouth, but water again quickly flowed from her eyes.

"And did either you or your parents do anything to threaten him? Did you try to take anything from him?"

"No!" the vixen yelped as she directed the copper to their apartment building, "We were just on our way home. Besides, why would we? We were practically sitting on our front porch."

That detail had seemed to escape the detective initially as he flipped back through his notes.

"Is that good enough?" she asked through her sobbing.

"It's a start," the copper responded as he started the car and pulled away from the scene.

Fiona twisted herself around as she looked out the back window, saying her silent goodbyes to her parents. Somehow she knew it would be the last time she saw them, alive or dead. As fast as she had grown up, nothing had prepared her for this.

"Didn't someone see what happened?" she asked, turning to meet the officers' gaze through his rear view mirror.

"No one that wants to talk to a copper," he replied reluctantly. "Everyone scattered like cockroaches when I showed up. We don't exactly live in a stand up neighborhood."

Fiona leaned back into the worn leather seats, letting the cushions swallow her.

"Don't fall asleep kid," the officer nearly scolded her as he peered back through the mirror again, "not with that concussion of yours. You may not wake up again."

The vixen folded her arms unsure of what do besides watch the buildings pass by. Every waking moment seemed to be a new burden on her soul.

The precinct was old, run down, and filled with coppers that barely looked like they were able to stand up to get the donuts on the other side of the room. The detective sat her down on the other side of his desk while he began to fill out some paper work.

…

"And that's pretty much everything that I can remember," Fiona said as she took a look over at the clock which read a time much later in the night than when she had arrived.

The copper leaned back in his chair and inhaled deeply as he stared at her, "I believe you."

"Really?" the vixen responded almost in shock.

"For all the good it will do," he continued. "It doesn't matter how I write this up kid, when the news agencies get a hold of this he won't ever see the inside of a court room. This guy will be tried in the media and come out looking like a hero."

"But, but you just said you believed me, doesn't that mean…"

"It means we can charge him with murder, but I don't think it's going to stick."

"Why?"

"Because there are a lot of people who would probably like to see this guy walk, and they have money, lots of it. They can bribe the papers, judges, other coppers, you name it. You want things to go your way, you got to pay. Have you paid anyone recently?"

She shook her head.

"Me neither kid, but it doesn't mean we can't try," the detective said with a small smile.

Fiona wanted to display some optimism, but she only seemed content to turn and face the murderer in the room. She had become fixated on revenge, yet was still slightly unsure of how to obtain it.

"Don't worry about him, scum like that always gets what's com'n to them."

The fox finally found a wry little smile, "I know."

The door to the station burst open. A group of reporters was chasing after a large man in a tailored red suit. She recognized him from the papers and TV. He was their newly elected president, a man of the people. Yet she knew from her father's rants that people did not mean Mobians to him.

"Oh shit," the copper said under his breath, "they brought in the big guns on this one."

Fiona didn't bother to say anything, instead she just watched as the fat man corralled the reporters around him as he stood in front of the murder's holding cell.

"This is what is wrong in this country. No longer can a man defend himself against the hostile and feral creatures that we willingly allow to walk amongst us. Here this poor man sits, now scarred for life, with the threat of murder hanging above his head for doing nothing more than making this city safer. I vow to make sure people like this are rewarded rather than punished," Julian spoke confidently into the plethora of microphones and cameras that were being shoved into his face before turning his attention to the young fox.

"And you must be the little whelp that got away," he suggested as he approached her. "How unfortunate. No matter we will take care of that soon enough."

A flash bulb went off, capturing the fox's bewildered look. She rubbed her eyes in an effort to make the spots go away, but soon a cascade of sparks followed, bathing her in the camera's bright lights.

"Take care of what?" Fiona asked him when she was able to see again.

The man seemed alarmed that she even dared to speak to him. His nose curled up in disgust as he flinched backwards. The room filled with silence as everyone waited for a response.

"Why you, of course. I won't allow threats like you to live in my city," he proclaimed as he turned back to the reporters. "Even Mobians as young as this one pose a threat to our fine society. Left uninhibited they will spread like a cancer until we are dead."

He continued his rant as he waddled further into the station, no doubt looking for someone in charge. The crowed following him only seemed to grow as officers joined in the procession.

"Don't go running off kid," the detective said as he got up to follow them. "I am going to go see what we are up against."

Soon enough the fox found herself sitting alone; Kintobor's deep voice echoing down the hall as he continued his monologue. When she looked back over her shoulder Fiona found her friend right where he had been sitting before. His look grew uneasy as the two locked eyes for a moment. The vixen slid herself off her chair and grabbed the murderer's silver Beretta from the detective's desk. It was wrapped in an evidence bag, but she didn't care. The copper had made it clear enough that the law was not going to help her, so she was going to have to help herself. Perhaps the business man was right after all, _the only one I can truly depend on is me._

The killer tugged at his cuffs as he tried to yank himself free from the table. He even yelled out for help, but no one was left to hear him. Fiona pulled up the chair across from him as she set the gun on the table in front of her, just out of his reach.

"Please," he begged, "don't do this."

"Do what?" she asked curiously.

"Kill me," the murder gulped. "I, I got a family."

"What a coincidence, so do I… oh wait someone killed them."

"Somebody help me! This bitch is going to kill me!" he screamed again.

Fiona could here every footstep in the next room, and not a single one was headed in her direction. Everyone was too concerned with the infamous Julian Kintobor to remember the small red fox whose parents had just been killed. Slowly the vixen picked the gun up and pointed it in his direction. She knew it was unloaded, but he didn't. It may have been the first time she held a gun, but it wasn't difficult to figure out which end went where.

"Why?" Fiona asked plainly.

"Why what?" he asked timidly.

"Why?" she asked again pulling the hammer back on the pistol.

The man began to break down in front of her. "I don't know," the murderer admitted looking slightly ashamed of himself, "because I could."

"And so now you get to walk out of here like nothing happened," Fiona said waving the gun around, "and me, well I don't know what they will do with me."

"I can tell you what they will do if you pull that trigger," he replied.

She smiled back at him with her newly found grin, "So what you're saying is I have nothing to lose?"

"No, no, no, that is not what I am saying. Please," he begged more.

"Or perhaps I should just put you out of your misery."

The look on his face went from pathetic to blank as if he had lost all hope. No doubt he never thought she had heard that. Fiona met his gaze as she stared down the sites of the gun.

The killer's eyes widened as hers narrowed, "Wait! Please don't do this, please!"

_C__lick__._ The sound the empty weapon made was enough to make the man wet himself in fear. Fiona had yet to experience the pleasure of a grown man crying, but he made quite a show of it as he bawled into his shirt sleeve trying to dry his eyes and hide his face.

"Just remember," the vixen began as she tossed the Beretta onto the table, "that I won't forget you or what you did. We will see each other again and just like now, no will be around to hear you scream."

The man sat cowering in his chair as she left the room. The fox wanted to wait around to thank the detective that had taken the time to listen her story, but she had a feeling if she did she would never see the light of day again. Julian had made things quite clear on how he felt about her.

Fiona didn't bother give the murderer the satisfaction of looking back. Instead she made for the door while there was still no one around. Kintobor's words carried weight, so much so that she could still hear them from front steps of the building. Whether he was inspiring anyone the fox could not tell, but she did not want to find out.

Exiting into the midnight rain, the vixen shivered as her fur dampened. Going home was no longer an option for her. Soon enough the coppers would be searching for the 'whelp that got away'. The world no longer seemed fair. After all that had happened, the man responsible for killing her mother and father would be set free while she would be hunted like an animal. The city was turning its back on her and with little place left to go Fiona found herself heading towards the upper east side, but not to the apartment she called home.


	3. Man Hunt

Since she had stepped into her new life, Fiona wondered if promises still counted when the person she made it with was dead. Considering she was standing outside the Breaker Hotel and Restaurant it was obvious that at least part of her had come to the conclusion it didn't. The fox had been pacing back and forth all night wrestling with herself as she waited for the business man she had once met to show up. Finally, she decided to cross the threshold into the lobby and approach the desk at the far side. A wrinkly middle age woman looked up at her from behind thick-rimmed glasses.

"Hi," Fiona began doing her best to sound polite.

After sizing the fox up the woman pushed her spectacles back to the top of her nose and returned to the book she was reading. The vixen opted not to move, instead she stood on the tips of her toes so that she was just able to bring her gaze over the high top lobby desk. The woman seemed content to ignore the pair of eyes staring at her, but Fiona too proved her persistence.

Without missing a word on the page, the receptionist asked, "Do you know where you are?"

The fox nodded slowly even though she was relatively sure the woman could not see her do so.

"And what could you possibly want?"

In all her deliberation it never once occurred to her that she didn't know the name of the man she wanted to speak with.

"The owner," Fiona declared with confidence.

The lady allowed her glasses to fall from her frail face, letting the copper chain that hung around her neck catch them as she stood up to get a better look at the Mobian who stood in front of her.

"I think you might be lost," the woman insisted.

"Please," the fox begged, "it's important."

"Do you have an appointment?"

This time she shook her head in response.

"No one see Mr. Naugus without an appointment."

Whether it was luck or fate it made no difference to her. The rush of fresh air greeted Fiona as the lobby door opened. In with it walked the man she had met almost two years ago in the subway station. He was slightly older now, hair graying, but his stature looked twice as menacing.

The man paid her no mind as he approached the receptionist, "Any messages for me Ingrid?"

"No, Sir," her response came without looking up from her book.

"Very well. Now, just out of curiosity, what's this Mobian doing in my hotel?" he asked without even bothering to spare a look in the vulpine's direction.

"Not quite sure, Sir."

"I want to talk with you!" the vixen said plainly.

When the man did finally decide to reward her with a glance, his initial reaction was filled with surprise rather than the anger as perhaps the receptionist had expected.

"Send her up," he said casually.

"Sir?"

"You heard me, send her up," he responded as he got in the elevator, leaving Fiona alone with the less than chatty woman.

_Does he recognize me?_ Fiona wondered as she examined her reflection in the polished white marble floor of the hotel lobby. _How could he? I barley recognize myself._

The change had not occurred overnight, but rather was a product of the city and time. Her cute girlish smile had been replaced with a small smirk that made her look older than her actual years. The fox's body, while still small was beginning to resemble that of a lady's, leaving her with shape in her hips and a considerably sharper complexion.

"I don't have all day," the woman said impatiently as she stood next to another open elevator.

Slowly the fox tore herself away from the image staring back at her and headed for the lift. The receptionist inserted a key into the panel and then proceeded to hit both the second and fourth floor buttons before stepping out. The woman stood and watched the vixen with crossed arms as the doors shut; clearly interested in what was so special about this particular Mobian.

There was a pause before the lift began to move, making Fiona feel trapped in more ways than one. The confines of her space left her little in the way of exits as she began to second guess herself. Her parents had warned her to stay away from this man, even amongst all the other low life's the city had to offer. The vixen looked up as the light highlighting the current floor switched from one to two and then to three where it began to slow. _The third floor? _she asked herself, _surely this can't be right._ However, a glance at the choices of floors on the elevator controls, the vixen realized there was no three to even be selected.

When she stepped out, it was not to the small confines of a hotel hallway which she was half expecting, but rather that of sprawling office space. Cubicles fanned outward towards the windows, each filled with an occupant who couldn't be bothered to look up from their work. Fiona wandered aimlessly until another receptionist caught the lost gaze of the fox.

"He's waiting for you in his office," this woman began as she pointed towards a large glass room in the corner of the building. "Can I get you anything?"

Fiona had been confused when she stepped off the elevator, but that feeling nearly doubled when she was asked if she wanted anything.

"Anything? Like what?" she asked unsure of what the limitations were.

"Like anything," the young woman responded with a lush smile that rivaled that of the fox's.

Unlike the old bat downstairs this girl was much easier on both the eyes and ears. Nor did the Mobian's appearance seem to offend her, which served to relax the fox's nerves.

"Food?" Fiona asked curiously upon feeling her stomach growl at her.

"Of course. Anything in particular?"

"Anything in particular sounds good to me," the vixen responded with her small half sarcastic smile.

The girl giggled again, no doubt amused by the small fox that had found its way into their hidden office space.

"I'll fix something up for you," the receptionist answered as she led Fiona to the corner office. "Go on in."

The vixen rested her paw on the handle for a moment as she built up the courage to enter. Pushing her way inside the air went from stale to fresh, almost as if she had stepped into the countryside from the city. She stopped and inhaled deeply, relishing in the oxygen she too often took for granted.

"It's nice isn't it?" he began, "Most people don't appreciate clean air, but it helps keeps the mind sharp."

Fiona approached one of the chairs in front of his dark maple wood desk until she found herself standing behind it.

"Go ahead, sit down."

She grabbed the end of her tail and placed it in her lap as she took a seat opposite of him.

"So?" he said looking at her intently, "you wanted to speak with me?"

She had, but the strange level of hospitality and clean air had all but erased the reason why. No longer could she remember the words she had rehearsed into the late hours of the night. However, part of her wanted to throw that speech out anyway. Before her sat a man whom best she could tell only respected people who were self sufficient and forward. What good was a pre-canned speech going to do for him?

"I am going to work for you," the young Mobian proclaimed as she met his piercing gaze head on.

"Are you now?" he asked in his foreign accent as he leaned back in his chair while stroking an imaginary beard. "What exactly would you be doing for me?"

"What you tell me to I suspect."

The business man chuckled briefly, "I like your style, Fiona."

The confidence she had built up evaporated almost immediately. _How does he know my name?_

"Quite popular you are now, you know that?" he asked rhetorically as he slid the morning paper across his desk. The young vulpine promptly picked it up and examined the front page. In the cover photo there sat a familiar looking fox at the local precinct with a bewildered look on her face.

"Tough break, kid. No one deserves to lose both of their parents and Mobian or not you shouldn't be blamed. Sympathy is a worthless emotion, but you do have my condolences," he said as she stared into the paper as if she wasn't aware of who the disoriented fox was. "The whelp that got away," the man continued, almost laughing about the title of the article. "So resourceful and smart for being so young. You had enough common sense to walk out of there when you did and enough brass to come in here looking for help. If half the people I had working for me could think like you do I would be running this god-forsaken city by now."

The fox grinned a big grin, "Someone once told me the only person you can rely on is yourself."

The gentleman laughed again, "It's true. Unfortunately we must all rely on others from time to time, put our lives in their hands so to speak. Do you trust me with yours?"

"No," she answered plainly.

"Good," came his response, "You are indeed every bit as smart as you seem. Never trust anyone but yourself with your life and you will go far."

A knock came at the door, defusing the tension that was slowly building between the two. After a brief pause the receptionist appeared bearing a plate filled with sustenance. The vixen's mouth watered at the sight of a sandwich nearly as big as her own head. She had not eaten in nearly a day and was rather sure she would make short order of the meal.

Setting the plate down in front of her, the woman asked, "Anything else?"

The fox's eyes widened to the size of saucers as she shook her head in reply.

"Thanks Kitty," the business man replied as he looked down at Fiona, "That will be all."

When the sound of the door shutting announced the exit of his receptionist he continued, "Now shall we discuss your contract?"

"Contract?" the vixen inquired with a mouth full of food.

"Or rather lack thereof. I employ dozens of Mobians, but they are all paid under the table and off the books. Our fair president is only months away from banning your kind from the city all together. Besides, you are a wanted fugitive; I have to be careful with my reputation you see," the owner said only half seriously as he watched the vulpine scarf down the food as if it was her last meal. "Will that work for you?"

"Whatever you say, boss," she replied nonchalantly.

His face brimmed with a smile, "I could get used to hearing that," he mused quietly.

Fiona had only said it because he still had yet to introduce himself.

"Here," the man said as he opened up his wallet, "consider this and advance on your first assignment."

The vixen reached out her hand and graciously accepted the sizeable note.

No one had ever given her so much money, "Assignment?"

"You didn't think I would be having you do something normal did you?"

The look on vixen's face must have suggested her answer. The fox was beginning to worry. She had thought perhaps she would be washing dishes or cleaning rooms, but it seems the savvy businessman had other plans for her.

"I have found that Mobians excel in other areas where their human counterparts often disappoint me," he continued after producing a manila folder from his desk, "All you need to do is what you already do best, be the sneaky and cunning fox that you are."

After being handed the dossier, the vixen proceeded to open it. There was nothing more than photos of a bulky balding man with pale white skin contained within.

"That was the best your predecessor could do," the man said as he stood up and strode over to look out his office window, "but he doesn't work for me anymore. The thug in those photos has every intention of moving in on my business, but I am not going to let that happen. However, I don't go to war without knowing all there is to know about my enemy. Bring me more than a pretty picture."

"Is this all I get?"

"What else did you have in mind?"

"A name?" she suggested before continuing, "and maybe a gun?"

The vixen's mind was still stuck on revenge.

Her new boss chuckled deeply, "A gun? I am not in the habit of arming my new employees. On top of that you barely look big enough to hold one."

"I am twelve," Fiona squeaked proudly.

This seemed to catch him off guard judging by his guffaw.

"I have hired a twelve year old Mobian," he muttered under his breath as he continued to watch the traffic, "what could go wrong…"

Turning back to face the fox, he turned up the sternness of his tone considerably, "I wouldn't be asking you for more information if I had it. That's what you have to work with. Can you do it?"

Fiona had no clue where to even start, but she didn't care. Where else was she going to go?

"No problem."

"Good. Now, because you're new, I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt. I will say this once and once a lone. I don't tolerate failure."

Fiona nodded, even as fear ran rampant inside of her head. The fox watched as her boss returned to the work on his desk, not paying her another second of his time. She took it as her cue to leave and promptly found the door carrying with her the photos. _What have you gotten yourself into Fi?_

Finding a solitary person amongst the millions that lived in the city was without a doubt the single hardest challenge the vixen had ever undertaken. With nothing but a few blurry pictures to go on she was at a loss for where to even start. The receptionist smiled briefly as the fox found her way back to the elevator. It appeared as if the hospitality in the Breaker Hotel had finally run out.

It only seemed logical to start at the city's hub, Station Square. Hundreds of thousands of people passed through it every day, and if she wanted a shot at finding the right one there was no better place to begin. However, with the multitudes of people came the stares. Perhaps a few recognized her from the cover of the paper that morning, but none seemed so concerned as to do anything about it. Instead they let the fox resign herself to the shadows where she remained watching the commuters until another Mobian caught her eye.

It was the station's janitor, a mangy old bobcat by the name of Moray. Missing patches of fur and bent whiskers were not amongst his finer features, but rather displayed the years that snuck up on him. As old as he was, all he did was work, pushing around a mop in exchange for a warm broom closet to call home. It was a sorry life, but better than some. Fiona watched as he paused to lean against the wooden handle as if it were a cane, resting until a new wave of strength found him. When he reached the center of the station's main floor, the fox strode toward him cautiously, not sure what to expect from the old feline.

Unsurprisingly his golden eyes never left the floor as he swooshed the mop from side to side. Despite Julian's election, the cat walked amongst the humans effortlessly. Although strangely the vixen got the impression that Moray no longer feared the poison of time, but rather the company he kept. No doubt he knew as well as anyone it was only a matter of time before the people whom he served turned on him.

"Excuse me mister," Fiona said in a childish voice.

The cat grumbled as he shifted his weight to get a better look at the vixen.

"I was hoping you could help me," she continued.

Purring shallowly the cat cleared his throat, "I can't imagine how I would, I can barely help myself."

"Do you know him?" Fiona asked as she held out the picture for the bobcat, to see.

Through squinting eyes he strained to make out the face in the photo.

"Him," came a purr, "yes I have seen him plenty of times before. Comes through here this time almost every day in fact."

"Really?"

"Oh yes. Unmistakable that one, always with an entourage. Big burley men in suits follow him out to one of those long black cars with the dark windows. It's probably parked out on the street right now waiting for him."

The fox could hardly believe her luck. A task that could have taken her months was coming together in mere hours.

"Thanks!" she nearly yelped in excitement as she bound of towards Station Square's grand stair case.

Once outside, it didn't take long to find the vehicle the cat had described. It sat parked at the corner with its engine idling, waiting. Keeping low she wound around the back side of it making sure the driver couldn't see her in any of his mirrors. Quietly the vixen tugged on the silver handle until the door opened just enough for her to slip inside.

With a soft pull Fiona closed the door behind her. It was dark and reeked of cigar smoke and alcohol, but that was hardly anything new. The divider between the passenger area and the driver was already blocked off leaving her alone in the luxurious space. Peering out the window she waited for her pray while trying to remember how ambushing him inside his car seemed like a good idea.

Just as the cat had told her, the pale man walked up to the car. In his right hand he carried an ordinary looking briefcase. Her boss had provided no further instructions beyond find the man and found him she had. One of the guards at his side strode up to the car, staring right at the vixen. She froze until she remembered the tint on the car was too dark to see into. The round man opened the door and motioned for the VIP to enter.

Her target took his seat next to her in the back of the car just as the thug shut the door behind him, leaving the fox alone with her new friend for a few moments. Before the man even fully realized what was happening Fiona had plucked the wallet from the inside of his jacket pocket. A flabbergasted face stared back at her as he searched for words. The vixen bore her teeth, subtly growling, as her hands found the black leather case the man had set next to him. The scream he let out to alert his guards of her presence could hardly be called manly.

They were quicker than she expected for being so bulky. One of them had already found a way around to her side of the car and was reaching in the door to grab her. Having already grabbed the case, Fiona forced the bottom of it into the man's large face. The hardened surface crushed bone and cartilage alike and the thug reeled backwards, blood spilling from his nose. Quickly scampering out onto the street the fox found two more enforcers were rounding either side of the limo, trying to trap her between the car and the busy road.

Human's were often mislead by the vixen's appearance. What appeared outwardly small and harmless was anything but. The man approaching from the back was on top of her first and subsequently the second to feel her fury. Swinging the black leather briefcase like a frying pan, she brought blunt object with all her might into the side of his knee. The joint bent inwards awkwardly, nearly snapping under the force of her blow all while the man screamed in agony.

With two of them rolling on the ground in pain already Fiona was more than ready for the third thug, or at least so she thought. His large hands wrapped around both her arms and chest threatening to squeeze the life out of her as he hoisted her into the air. Without a limb to use she turned to her fangs, digging them deep into his forearm, clamping down until she tasted blood. The man did his best to fight the pain, but his grip loosened soon enough, dropping her in the process.

On her feet again the vixen wasted no time wielding her weapon. With a swift swing she brought the case up between the man's legs. His eyes widened as he gasped for air while struggling to stay on his feet. In a matter of seconds the thug was on his knees clutching his groin. Fiona saw no reason to show him any mercy, as none would have likely been given to her. Winding up with all her remaining strength the fox brought the briefcase across the side of thug's face. With a solid smack, she watched with satisfaction as the bodyguard went down unconscious.

Before any of them could get up she took off back into Station Square, the sound of boots echoing loudly as she ran back down the steps. Fiona could here another set of rapid feet following close behind her. With a glance over her shoulder the fox could make out the man from the photo chasing after her, pistol in hand.

There was a loud crack as the marble floor in front of her exploded into small bits of stone. Screams erupted as people ran in fear of the gunshot. When she reached the bottom level, the fox was quick to duck amongst the confused crowed obscuring her chaser's line of sight. Another shot rang out and the woman to her left tumbled to the floor clutching a bleeding arm.

Her survival instinct was operating at full tilt when she sprinted onto the platform. The vixen's ears could hear the jingle of a train preparing to depart and she threw herself headlong into the car just as the doors closed behind her. Fiona picked herself up off the ground, doing her best to ignore all the stares and worried faces. She walked up to the window to wave goodbye to the man in the photos. He didn't wave back, but instead swore loudly as he stomped his feet in frustration. Whatever she had taken, it was not something he wanted to lose.

The fox was smart enough not to stay on the train long. If the thugs meant business they would already be waiting at most of the stations. Getting off at the first stop, the vixen was able to get her bearings. She was headed in the entirely wrong direction, but it was nothing a few minutes of waiting in the shadows for the connection to come along couldn't fix.

When she boarded her ride home, human eyes would not seem to leave her alone. Everywhere Fiona looked people were staring, but a glance in the window's reflection showed a blood stained fox looking back. Luckily for her, no one seemed brave enough to even speak a word let alone reach for a com device.

At long last she found a way back to the streets she called home, where strangely enough she felt safe. The Breaker Hotel hovered in the distance, a monolithic building that was hardly worth a passing glance. Pushing open its great doors, Fiona walked right past the old secretary and into the elevators.

"Just what do you think you are doing?" she called after the fox.

But Fiona remembered the drill. She didn't have time to argue with the hag. The vixen continued her march right past Kitty's desk when she reached the third floor. The corner office was in her sight and nothing was going to stop her from proving herself.

"Hey," the young girl said loudly as she chased after Fiona, "you can't just go in there."

However, that is exactly what the fox did. Throwing open her boss' office doors she proceeded to walk right up to his desk and slam briefcase down in front of him. Fiona didn't know what to expect, but the man did not look amused.

"I tried to stop her," the sectary called out from his doorway.

Glancing from the blood covered case and back to a fox splattered in red he was at a distinct loss for words.

"You got this from the man in the photo?"

"And this," Fiona added as she removed the thug's walled from her own pocket, adding it to the stack of her plunder.

Her new boss opened the leather pouch and removed an ID card, examining it carefully before moving onto the latches on the briefcase. Upon opening it, the businessman burst into a deep almost insidious laughter and the fox grew nervous.

"Fiona," he said with a smile on his face, "I won't even begin to try and understand how you did this."

She remained silent, letting an inner sense of pride fill her up.

"Here," he said as he reached into the case producing a thick stack of banded bills, "consider this a performance bonus."

She caught the neat stack of bills and looked it over with an unhinged jaw.

"Who is he?" she asked.

"A friend of a friend by the looks of it. Apparently Kintobor thinks he can hire people to replace me with my own money."

"How do you know it's your money?"

"How do you know those are your whiskers?" the man asked pointing at her muzzle. "This is more troublesome than I thought. Apparently this town isn't big enough for two big shots."

Fiona had hardly considered her boss a big shot, but she had a feeling there was still a lot she didn't know.

"What are you going to do?"

He smiled, "Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Why should I do anything? I have been paying that slovenly excuse for a politician so I can expand my enterprise. The difference is I will continue to do so knowing he is trying to put a knife in my back. Information is power, and knowing what your enemy wants is the key to stopping them."

"Now what?"

"Now what?" the man asked somewhat irate. "Now run home little fox, this doesn't concern you."

She wanted to remind the man she didn't have a home, but she knew him well enough to know there was no sympathy to be had.

"Later, boss," the fox replied in her city accent as she walked passed Kitty who was still standing in his doorway.

"Ixis," he replied, "You may call me Ixis."

Fiona nodded her head acknowledging his tiny sign of respect for her.

All the years Fiona had spent wandering the city on her own would finally serve a purpose. While a certain bobcat worked for a small warm room, she was willing to bet she could find at least a dozen warehouses left unlocked where she could rest her head for a few days. Just the thought seemed uncomfortable, but even with the money she had there was no place that would take her. Plucking a twenty dollar bill from the stack, she pocketed it with the thought of handing it to Murray the next time she saw him. If this city had taught her anything, it was that no deed goes unrewarded, for better or worse.


	4. Shattered Dreams

"Fiona," the man said with some hesitation in his voice.

Ixis stood on the other side of his dream, or at least that is what he called it. On a make shift table in his office stood a tiny model of a grand casino spanning nearly an entire block of the Upper East Side. He eyed her carefully as she reached inside and plucked one of the pedestrians from the stairs leading up to its entrance. Carefully she replaced the person as if it was a real life in her hands. The smallest of things could set the man off, not the least of which was shattered dreams. He assured her that once it was done, nothing could stop him from running the city.

"Boss," the fox replied, doing her best to keep the fear at bay as she locked eyes with him.

"I am afraid this is going to be your last assignment," he replied as he returned to his perch behind his desk.

Naugus almost said the words as if they caused him some tiny amount of pain. To some extents the man had been like a father to her, not one that she wanted, but a father nonetheless. Although if she didn't know better he barely knew she existed beyond her purpose. The vixen was nothing more than a tool that sat biding its time until it was needed.

At first it was the obscure, tracking people, 'returning' 'lost' merchandise, and even the occasional negotiation. Naugus had seen fit to dig himself into every nefarious trade there was, and that meant dealing with the Resistance. The underground group of Mobians had gotten their hands on enough weapons for a small army, which is exactly what her boss wanted. "Empires aren't built on words," he would say to her before sending her off to parley with some Mobian gunrunner.

However, the notorious velvet red fox had slowly become somewhat of an urban legend, one that instilled fear into the hearts of Naugus' 'business' partners. He was not blind to this either. More than once the man had sent her to pay some poor soul a visit. The mere presence of the vulpine was often enough to cause her targets to cough up their payments plus a little interest.

Fiona was a ghost to most, including Ixis, coming and going as she pleased. Years ago she had foregone the denim jacket and kaki shorts she had shown up in and instead opted for something to help hide her amongst the shadows she now lived in. The fox stood in front of her boss, dressed head to toe in black. Those who did manage to catch glimpse of her often found something to look at. The leather pants she worse were so tight they often felt as if they might rip if she flexed a muscle too hard. While her jacket fit more loosely it was only because she left it unzipped, leaving her cotton black tank top visible. Between the deep cut V-neck shirt and her tail there was just enough red fur left noticeable to inform her enemies of who they were dealing with. The only thing that remained of her old life was the yellow ribbon that tied her hair back. Now in tatters, it served as a reminder of the younger fox she used to be.

"Last assignment?" she asked curiously, now concerned that she may have done something wrong.

Those who failed Naugus were not treated well and the rare few that dared to double cross him even worse. Vivid memories of seeing Ixis walk out of meat locker carrying a butcher's knife covered in blood still haunted her. The screams she had heard coming out of the freezer only moments before were so chilling that she had yet to find a way to describe them. The man's gaze had caught her as he left, and the hollowness behind his eyes only confirmed what she had always suspected; her boss had no soul. However, the fox knew that if she had done something wrong they wouldn't be having such peaceful conversation. Fiona had served him as loyally as she could, at his beck and call any hour of the day. It wasn't often that he turned to her, only when others had failed him. While she didn't like getting table scraps, the fox often felt a sense of pride completing the missions others couldn't. Ixis never thanked her, but instead gave her what she was due. The money rarely lasted as long as she would have liked, but it was work all the same.

"It's nothing personal, but it's becoming far too risky to keep a lose canon such as yourself around."

_A loose canon,_ she thought, _is that how he thinks of me_. That assessment was crass to say the least. The vixen was often anything but. Cold and calculated at heart, everything she did had equal parts forethought and brutality in mind, something she thought her boss would appreciate. However, she didn't do things for him, she did them for her, after all that is what he had taught her to do. The city and its inhabitants made her what she was, merciless and menacing. The fox continued to stare at him waiting for an explanation.

"Perhaps you know what next week is?" he asked.

"My birthday," came her response, unsure if she should be flattered that he knew.

Ixis had never remembered it before, and she had a funny feeling that he wasn't about to start unless it suited him.

"Right you are, eighteen already and by far one of my hardest working employees."

"I don't understand," Fiona hesitated, "what does that have to do with anything?"

But before he could answer she remembered their new president. The fat man she had the fortune of meeting six years ago. Just as Naugus had predicted Mobian's were all but outlawed from the Major cities unless they could get the permits necessary to stay there. Those papers were hard to come by and almost always required an employer willing to vouch for the Mobian in question. At eighteen you either had your papers or you were target practice for the local coppers, that is if they were feeling kind enough to ask for them in the first place.

"If I keep you around," he continued, "your title on the registration form can't read 'hired gun' now can it?"

She shook her head in agreement.

"However, I am not the type of man to let an asset walk out the door, not when it has other applications."

She didn't like where this was going. As part of his empire Ixis had a dingy underground bar a few blocks over that catered to the cheap drunks and affluent Mobians who had managed to keep their homes in the city. If she worked there it would only be as eye candy and entertainment, and the fox assured herself that she had more pride than that.

"I am skipping everyone else with this one," he said as he pushed a file across the desk, "it is too personal. You are the only employee I have that has yet to disappoint me."

Inside the folder was a ransom note made from cut up newspaper clippings. It read nothing more than, _If__ you want him back alive, pay up._

"No one extorts me!" Ixis said as he slammed a clenched fist into his desk.

"If you don't mind me asking, who is 'he'?"

Naugus gritted his teeth as he muttered, "my son."

Fiona had always known the man had family, but she had never seen them. They were mentioned only in passing whispers by other staff. A subject known to many as off limits, and with good reason. To the best of her knowledge he and the misses were no longer on good terms and she had up and left taking his son with her. Now it looks as if someone was trying to take advantage of that. This was the first time she was almost sure her boss was being sentimental.

"That whiney little brat of mine got himself in a very tight spot, no thanks to his bitch of a mother," he said fuming with rage.

After a few deep breaths he steadied himself as he continued, "this isn't about them, it's about me. When I am done with the clowns that took him, there won't be a person in this city that doesn't think at least three times before they fuck with me or anything or anyone that is mine."

The fox flipped to the next page in the dossier. It was a map with an X over an abandoned building in the warehouse district next to the river.

"Is this where the exchange is supposed to happen?"

"Yes," her boss replied coolly, "They want a rather large sum of money, but I don't intend on giving them a single credit."

"They?"

"Three lowlifes who don't have much common sense. They will rue the day they I entered their lives."

Fiona had little doubt of that.

"Anything else?"

"Expect them have a trick up their sleeve. They may be dumb, but they're not stupid. All I care about is my son. Get him back."

"You got it boss," she replied as she turned to leave.

"Fiona," Ixis said before the fox reached the door.

Turning back the man was dangling key from his wrinkly fingers, "You know how to drive right?"

When the occasion had called for it, she took the liberty of giving herself some lessons. Nothing about it seemed particularly difficult to understand except for why no one else on the road could seem to do it half as well as her.

"Sure," the vixen replied as she caught the keys.

"Not a scratch," the man said sternly. "There isn't a copper in the city that will pull you over in that."

"Why not?"

"Because it's mine. Now stop wasting time and go find my son."

Fiona nodded as she pocketed the keys trying to understand where the generosity was coming from. Ixis had given her exactly two things since she began working for him, money and a gun. It didn't take the man long to get over giving her one either, even despite his initial misgivings. She could still recall the sound of him pushing the synthetic Glock across his desk towards her as if it were yesterday.

"And try not to kill anyone. It's the only way I can continue to keep the coppers off your back. Papers or not they will put you in a hole and make you disappear if you're found within a hundred feet of a corpse."

"If they catch me," she said with a smile.

The fox still had yet to cross that bridge and had no intention of doing so today. Sure, she had gotten her paws dirty, but nothing so far as killing anyone. Of course that meant the vixen had to discount the people she handed over to Naugus, people she never saw again. _Even if they are dead, you didn't kill them Fi, _she told herself.

The black sedan was parked out back in the garage behind the hotel. Its windows were totally blacked out with chrome trimmings around the side. After that, there wasn't a distinctive mark on the car, not even a plate, which is perhaps what in and of itself made the vehicle so distinctive.

With a twist of her wrist, the car started promptly to life, purring as if it were happy to get the attention. Fiona ran her hand around the smooth leather steering wheel as she adjusted the mirrors. Luxury left her with an odd flutter in her stomach, but not one that she couldn't learn to like. The fox smiled with inordinate amount of content as she slowly pulled away, leaving the slums behind in style befitting of royalty. Thankfully the lazy overcast Sunday kept the traffic to a minimum letting her coast indolently over the bridge as if she wasn't in a hurry at all.

It was cooler down by the docks, it always was. Something about the moist air made the place taste like despair. A fog bank was just rolling in off the river when she pulled up, its grey billowy pillows skating across the water until they inevitably ran aground. The fox took a deep breath as she put the car in park. She could already feel the eyes preying at her, even inside the car.

That feeling rubbed the vixen the wrong way. She was the one used to doing the watching; being on the other side of the lens left her feeling exposed. Without a drop of fear in her complexion she reached for the handle and opened the door. The gravel crumbled underneath her feet as she made her way across the clearing. Warehouses such as this one were shady from the outside in. A loose coat of grey paint over the rusted siding was all the attention it had received in the last ten years, a perfect place to stash a kid for a couple of days.

Fiona put a paw on the man door and pushed it open as it creaked in complaint. The football field sized structure was empty save for a chair in the middle and two goons standing behind it. She approached, veins still flowing with ice.

"You got our money?" one of them called out.

The vixen didn't respond, instead she continued to walk, the solid sound of concrete now under her boots. Something didn't smell right, she could see two, but knew there were three.

"You hear me? You got our money?"

The lighting was shitty at best. The florescent bulbs were flickering like a bug zapper in a swamp. Condensation could do that in a place like this. The fox was barely able to make out their faces, which meant they certainly couldn't see hers. While each had a weapon at their side, neither made any attempt to spook her.

"Stop!" one of them yelled in a deep authoritative voice.

The vixen took her last step, finally satisfied with distance between her and the men with guns. Her objective lay between the three of them shivering in fear. The boy's torso was lashed to the back of a chair, his hands taped to his sides, and to top everything off a black shroud covered his heads to dull his senses and keep him trapped in the darkness of fear.

"The money," the thug on the left said curtly, "please."

"Why are there only two of you?" Fiona asked bluntly.

Upon hearing the female voice the pair exchanged looks as they took a step closer to her. Amidst the nervous footsteps the vixen's ear twitched as she found the breath of a third man. She smiled, letting a canine fall from her mouth. No longer did they have the advantage.

Whether it was her glowing eyes or sharp teeth, the men froze when they realized it was not a human approaching them.

"Shit," one of them muttered to the other, "that's the Red Shadow man."

Fiona enjoyed that nickname. Every once in a while she would catch whispers of it behind her back. The red furred fox that materialized from darkness was well known for a lot of things, and weakness was not one of them.

Before either of them could decide what to do with this new information Fiona pulled her gun and fired a shot into the air. A man screaming in pain quickly followed as he dropped his sawed off Remington from the shadowy rafters above. Without batting an eye she caught the clunky weapon in her off hand and proceeded to point it in her remaining enemies' directions.

As she stared them down, their less than acrobatic friend fell from his hiding spot, but not gracefully. When she finally took a peek at the man who was screaming bloody murder it was to find that the leg she hadn't shot was bent quite a few degrees in the wrong direction.

"Do you know who you're dealing with?" the fox asked as she took a step closer to securing the boy.

No one answered.

"Let him go and you get to walk away."

Neither of them looked happy about their predicament.

Doing her best to ignore the groaning man, Fiona advanced towards her target, keeping the two idiots that stood behind him in her sights The one on the right worked up the balls to shoulder his rifle. With two quick shots from her Glock the man fell over squirming in pain, clutching a bleeding shoulder.

"Your move cowboy," the vixen said with her wry little smile as she turned to the last of her enemies.

The thug nodded in agreement as he dropped his pistol to the ground. Fiona knew as soon as she saw him reach inside his pocket she should have shot him, but now it was too late.

"You know what this is?" he asked as he held out a small device.

Now the fox had to nod. She had seen remote detonators enough times to know the drill.

"Not another step or there won't be much left of that kid."

The trick to dealing with pricks like this was convincing them they were in fact the ones that had everything to lose.

"You go ahead and do that," Fiona replied as she walked past the boy, guns still trained on the maniac in question.

"I'll do it," he proclaimed, "I swear."

"I believe you," she replied even though she didn't. "Naugus only told me to come down here and make it plain that you were not getting any of his money. He didn't seem too concerned about the kid one way or the other."

She was now fifteen feet away and the beads of sweat forming on the thug's face began to show rather clearly.

"So I might urge you to take a look around at your friends, all of whom are still breathing for now. What does an intelligent man such as yourself think would happen next if you pressed that button?" the fox asked.

Fiona had learned long ago to play to people's egos. Always make them feel smart, and let them think they have some control even if they don't. Misdirection could work in so many ways. The man gulped as the fox rested the barrel of her new sawed off on his knee.

"What do you say I let you walk away?" she asked in a semi seductive voice. "All you have to do is drop that," the vixen continued as she motioned to the detonator.

He dropped it just like she thought he would. With a smile she flipped the shotgun around as if to offer it to him. When he reached for it she pulled back and swing it like a club. The low life crumpled to the ground unconscious leaving her alone with his two noisy partners that were still rolling around on the ground in pain.

After tossing the Remington and grabbing the detonator Fiona reached into his jacket pocket somewhat curious about the type of man that would kidnap a little kid, let alone strap him to a bomb. To her surprise her paws did not come up empty. A small badge encased in leather gleamed in the dull light. An iron red fist was affixed against a city's skyline. She had seen one of these before.

"Dominion?" she whispered to herself before pocketing the badge.

The boy was shaking uncontrollably and for that she couldn't blame him.

"Hold on kid," she said as she felt around for the knots that held him to the chair.

As her paws worked at the rope a screeching noise erupted from the far end of the warehouse as the large freight door slowly opened.

"Damn it," the fox swore as she grabbed the back of the seat and dragged it towards the door she had entered through.

Even if he was only twelve the human child weighed every bit as much as she did, which severely hampered her escape. Looking over her back as the chair legs grinded against the pavement floor she hoped for a glimpse of what she presumed were more enemies. Slowly the sliver of light grew as the large doors at the other end opened further, revealing some very troubling silhouettes. Reaching for the handle, the fox wasn't surprised to find it locked. Fiona jiggled it before putting two rounds into the bolt and throwing her weight against the solid metal door. Nothing budged and she was trapped, "like a rat," she muttered to herself.

The man in the middle of the entourage was clapping slowly as if to mock her efforts.

"Impressive," he called out, "but futile. Besides, you're forgetting something."

The mystery man forced a woman to the ground in front of him, putting a pistol to the back of her head. The fox had been confident in her ability to retrieve the boy safely, but she was quickly loosing that feeling. Who ever this guy was he had a lot more company than she could deal with. Six men in full armor stood at his side and if that wasn't enough there were two ten-foot tall robots accompanying them.

"I am sorry," the woman screamed. "Patrick, tell your father I am sorry."

"Mom," the child screamed through the black shroud.

Before Fiona could say a word, the man pulled the trigger on his gun. The shot echoed about the silent warehouse and even for a person who couldn't see, there was little question as to what just happened. This was a setup and both she and Naugus had walked right into it.

"Mom," the kid screamed again, this time through an uncontrollable sob.

Fiona froze for second as she relived a moment from her past; this was a pain the vixen understood. To be there right when some pathetic excuse for a criminal took the life of someone you loved was a terrible feeling. Being helpless and blind only made it worse.

"Give him back," the man commanded with a tone that implied there were zero alternatives.

The fox begged to differ, however. With a stern kick she shattered the chair and freed the boy who was now near lifeless with sorrow. In just second her free hand pried the c4 that was stuck to the bottom of the stool and crammed it into the door's handle. Ducking to the side, she shielded the kid, reached in her pocket, and squeezed the detonator.

The door flew from its hinges in a fiery explosion that shook the building. Once they realized the fox was about to make an escape they opened fire. Bullets filled the air, ripping holes in the cheap siding.

"Stop you idiots!" she heard one of them yell, "The boy needs to be alive."

The kid had gone limp, making it nearly impossible to get him outside. Just as she did, one of the mechs put a hole in the wall next to her big enough for a truck to drive through. What ever the things were they were new and they hit hard.

Fiona was done babying the youngster and promptly full on threw him into the passenger seat of the car. Jumping right over him, she didn't even bother to shut the door. The engine roared to life as she twisted the key with her foot already on the gas pedal. The rear tires kicked up dirt and gravel alike as they spun sending the car forward and snapping the side door shut.

The robots that had tagged along with her new friends were faster than she could have imagined. Slow to start, they quickly worked themselves up into sprint, crashing through the hole they had already created.

Circling back around onto the pavement Fiona headed for the main road, but not before one of the bots took another shot. Inside it had been loud enough, but outside the canon echoed for miles. The round nearly clipped the mirror on Ixis' car as it streaked by, colliding with a stationary forklift in front of her. The mangled vehicle flipped into her path forcing her to swerve onto a side street.

Glancing in her mirror for a second was all it took for her enemies to get the jump on her. One of the bots had managed to make its way around the buildings and walk out into the end of the road, blocking her way. The fox slammed on the breaks, bringing the car to a tire screeching halt. Fiona rammed the shifter into reverse and gunned it again, but just as she looked over her shoulder the bot that had been chasing her rounded the corner.

"Shit," she swore out loud as she spun the wheel in desperation.

The vehicle careened right through a paper-thin garage door and into another warehouse. The vixen didn't remove her foot from the gas pedal as she continued to smash through empty crate and support beams alike with the car's rear bumper.

Two more loud cracks erupted while all the windows in the building exploded simultaneously as two auto cannon rounds shredded what was left of the warehouse, sending debris in all directions. They were trying to bring the building down on top of her.

"I can't see anything," the kid screamed.

"Trust me when I say you don't want to," the fox barked back at him over the redlined V8.

When the car finally plowed through the wall on the other side of the warehouse, Fiona couldn't have been happier to put a dent in Naugus' car. Reaching up to the steering column she shifted back into drive and pointed the car towards the road. Just as she got it up to speed the bots struck again. This time, one of their rounds found an old crane stationed by the docks. Its supports popped under the explosive tension, sending everything above crashing down right in front of her and the only clean path out.

"You have got to be kidding me," the vixen shrieked at the top of her lungs as she swerved the car down another alley.

The only thing she was thankful for at this point was the fact that they wanted the kid alive. If not for that she would have had a front row seat to her first barbeque. Their only option was to try and trap the fox, but unfortunately for her they seemed to be succeeding.

One of the bots was closing fast, and the second it grabbed her car everything was over. As the sedan raced down the tiny street she was forced to weave amongst the big equipment the dock crews had left out over the weekend. The fox instinctively went for her Glock as she ripped the handbrake, forcing a one eighty. With her paw out the window, the vixen fired not at the ten foot tall mech, but at the run down truck all too conveniently filled with acetylene tanks she had just driven by. One shot, two shot, three shot, but still nothing.

"Damn it!" Fiona screamed as she fired a fourth.

The explosion was beyond spectacular, sending a fireball a hundred feet in the air. A shockwave rippled through the air shredding small objects adding to the shrapnel that pelted the bulletproof windshield. The heat nearly singed the fur on her arm as she pulled it back inside. Above all, the bot, or what was left of it, would no longer be a problem, leaving only its brother to torment her and the kid.

Now all she needed was a way out of this god-forsaken maze. Warehouse after warehouse streaked by as she looked for another street that would let her return to the rat infested city she called home.

"There," she said out loud as if it mattered. The boy sitting next to her still couldn't see a damn thing.

Turning hard onto another main road she could make out a chain link gate with a guardhouse up ahead. It wasn't ideal, but it would put up a lot less fight than what was chasing her in the rear view mirror. The remaining bot fired again, but the shot did nothing more than destroy the tiny shack next to the gate and remove part of the fence for her. The weight of her vehicle traveling in excess of a hundred miles per hour easily sailed through the aluminum wire gate and continued on it's way as if nothing were there to begin with.

All she had to do now was make it to the tunnel and she was home free. There was no chance in hell a bot like that would be able to maneuver in such a small space. With just two more turns the Estarax Tunnel willingly swallowed them up along with all the other vehicles on the road.

The noise of her car's engine running at full tilt hummed provocatively off the tiled ceiling as she careened past cars at such a speed they appeared only to be blurs. The mech on the other hand had already managed to step on a car, kicking it to the side only to run into another. Fiona breathed a large sigh of relief when she saw it disappear in the city's traffic.

"Are – are we there yet?" the brat had the nerve to ask after a few moments of silence.

The vixen couldn't think of anything polite to say, so instead hit the accelerator harder and let the car do the talking for her.

When she arrived back in the garage and turned the key, the engine promptly fell asleep with a hiss as if it had been pleading for a reprieve. Fiona finally reached over and removed the black satin shroud from Naugus' son's head. Tears were still rolling down rosy red cheeks and she almost couldn't help but feel bad for him.

"C'mon," she said as she tore the tape away from his hands, "let's go see your dad."

"No," came his response through a sniffle.

The vixen didn't feel like arguing, but she was willing to spare a few more moments for him to justify his case.

"No?" she replied as mother might to a two year old.

"No," he repeated with some hesitation, "He is a bad man, and a worse dad. He hasn't been there once for me."

"He was there today," Fiona reminded him.

"Only because it would hurt his pride. He didn't even try to save my mom…" the boy added before his words turned into sobs again.

The fox scooted him out of the car and marched him up to the building. For being only twelve he had oddly twisted view on the world, even if it was completely right. Luckily for her, the kid didn't fight. Maybe he knew there was no arguing with his father, or perhaps he had been paying attention enough to know that there would also be no arguing with her.

What Fiona would give for a reunion with her parents was indeterminable, but that didn't stop her from picturing it every day, and that went nothing like presenting Naugus with his son.

When Fiona walked into his office she tossed him the keys to his car back, "you might need to get it detailed."

The man's expression indicated he did not appreciate the humor in the matter.

"I did manage to find this though," Fiona said as she pulled the kid into the room.

"Good then I see everything went according to plan," Ixis replied.

The fox didn't quite know how to tell him that wasn't the case and perhaps the look on her muzzle said as much. However, the kid seemed rather content to tell him in detail for her.

"According to plan!" he yelled. "What kind of plans do you make up here? Ones that involve getting mom killed? Ones that involve having some stupid fox play chicken with guy holding the detonator to the bomb I am sitting on? Ones that involve me getting shot at?"

Naugus twirled the keys in his hand as he listened to his son's tirade, clearly unsure of how much of the story to believe. Turning back to Fiona he only said one word, "Explain."

"Explain what?" she nearly spat. "You're welcome by the way," the fox said curtly to the boy now sitting on his father's couch.

"Start with why he says my wife is dead."

"Because she is. It was a setup. Whoever it was didn't seem to care too much about her. They walked her in and executed her."

"Are you going to sit there and believe her dad?" the little brat had the nerve to suggest.

Ixis raised his hand to silence the boy with a look so stern it could have stopped a charging bull cold in its tracks. Fiona could hardly believe the words coming out of his mouth. The kid had the audacity to question her after she risked her life to save him. And people wondered why she only cared about herself.

"What about the bomb?"

"You said they would have a trick up their sleeve didn't you? They were never going to kill him."

"Don't ever play games with my son's life!" Naugus screamed as he prepared to backhand her. However, he froze for a moment before turning to clear his desk of its entire contents with an enraged swing instead. The light sparked as it hit the floor amidst the papers and the other dozen trinkets that followed. At least he had thought twice about hitting her. Fiona still intended to kill the last person who had.

"Not a copper in the city," Fiona said mimicking his accent from earlier. "Well what about one of these?" she asked holding out the dominion badge she had taken off one of the goons.

Naugus stared at the brass in her hand in disbelief before starting his manic laugh, "Too far this time Julian, too far."

"Who are these guys?" she asked

"Your gun, Fiona,"

She hesitated as she reached for her holster. It was not something she wanted to part with.

"Your gun," he repeated himself.

Rather than risk making him any angrier, she slid the weapon across his desk. It made the same satisfying sound she remembered from when he pushed it in her direction six years ago.

"For your services," he said through heavily gritted teeth while thrusting an envelope into her chest. "Now get out!"

"Boss?"

"Now!" he shouted so loud she thought the vein throbbing in his neck might burst.

Fiona had seen him mad plenty of times before, but this was a new level. Maybe it was because of his family, but something told her this went beyond that. On her ride down to the first floor, the vixen opened the plain white envelope revealing not only her standard pay, but something easily worth ten times more. It was an ID card that would let her live in the city. A false name of course, but it made little difference to her. She would be able to remain in the only place she had ever known as home. While the fox knew that Ixis wasn't generous without good reason, she still couldn't help but feel he must have cared for her. The fox sighed as she stepped out of the elevator and into the lobby.

"Rough day," Ingrid asked as she flipped a page in her book.

"Last day," the vixen replied sullenly.

"That's not what he told me. House keeping is expecting you first thing in the morning."

"Ohh," she replied before walking out the door and back out into her city.

Fiona giggled to herself for a moment trying to find the irony. All she had ever wanted in the first place was an honest job. Six years, a new outlook on life, and now the man who had molded her into a weapon was now going to confine her to cleaning duty. _Why not,_ she thought, _you might live a little longer Fi._

* * *

_Please R&R. Comments are appreciated!_


	5. Take Me With You

Her parents had moved to the city with the impression that there would be work. The way they explained it made sense too, the more people there are, the more work that needs to be done. Few Mobians had been brave enough to mingle amongst the humans for fear of the growing negative view towards their kind. Instead the bulk of King Acorn's subjects kept to the countryside where they farmed and tended to the land that they saw as their own. _Bet you wished you had never moved here ma,_ Fiona thought to herself as she polished the bottom of a mug.

They were not wrong though; there was always a job to be had. Although Fiona often questioned the cost, not just in terms of her own dignity, but also safety. Her parents had paid with their lives in search of a better life for her. They were cut down right in front of her and their killer given nothing more than a slap on the wrist. The fox wanted to leave this city, its stench was more than her nose could take, but it was still her home. Her parents were strangers when they came here, but now she was a stranger to everywhere else.

The feeling of loneliness often crept up on her. Not even Ixis bothered to talk with her anymore. He had swept her under the carpet for use on a rainy day while he waged secret wars that she could take no part in. Instead, the red fox worked in his hotel until he decided to tear it down. In its place, something that resembled the miniature Casino that he so proudly showcased in his office was beginning to emerge.

For now, unfortunately, her only means of legitimate employment was the Barn Yard. A cheekily named bar that catered to the affluent Mobians who had managed to keep their homes or cheap humans with unusual tastes. Fiona sighed to herself, as she reminisced about the freedom she used to have.

"Quit day dreaming Fi," Blaze said from the other end of the bar, "those drinks won't deliver themselves."

The vixen grumbled as she grabbed the tray and stepped out onto the floor. Eyes followed her as she walked through a sea of drunks, Mobians and Humans alike. Serving was only one shade of grey better than having to dance on stage.

"No touching!" she growled at a mangy wolf that had run his hand through her tail.

Mobians, she understood, but she had yet to figure out what the humans wanted in a place like this.

"Here you go boys," she said to the construction workers, all of whom were still in their work clothes.

"Well hello there foxy woxy?" One of them asked with a big grin on his face.

Fiona smiled a fake smile at the man as she held back a look of disgust. "Enjoy," she added before turning to leave the men to their drinks. A hand found her shoulder, digging in and halting her on the spot.

"Where you go'n red?"

The vixen spun on her heels baring her fangs as she let out low growl. The hand loosened as the men visibly retreated. It wasn't the first time and she knew it wouldn't be the last. Part of her wanted to feel flattered, but drunks were all the same. Tail was tail to them, and she made sure to give it a nice wag as she left the table reminding them all what they couldn't have. Combined with her outfit, it didn't take much to get half of the establishment's customer's looking in her direction. Her tight fitting jean shorts and low cut V-neck t-shirt left little to the imagination.

"Pigs," she muttered under her breath as she made her way back to safety.

It was a small wonder no one recognized her for who she was. Even though no one had seen the Red Shadow in over two years, Fiona was confident not a soul in the room would look in her direction if they knew she was the same fox. Good looks or not, she was known for colder things.

"I still don't understand why you won't dance?" the purple cat asked having watched her from across the room. "You might actually make enough money to live in this god forsaken place."

"Ha," Fiona laughed in response, "if you call some ten by ten room living."

"You still didn't answer the question," Blaze pressed.

"Answer is the same as last time. Self respect."

"They all say that. You have been working here all of two weeks, give it four and we will see how much respect you have then."

The fox had already felt herself losing what little she had left for herself. Maybe she wasn't selling her looks, but she had a feeling her parents had better plans for her than waitressing in some gentlemen's club. It was getting harder and harder to find honest paid work and Fiona knew she was scraping at the bottom of the barrel, but there was no reason to rot it all the way through. She could always go back to the shady alley ways where she had spent much of her life. A room to call her own was something the fox had lived without since her parents had died, she wasn't missing anything.

"Trust me," Mina chimed in, "this place will break you."

"Perhaps that's because you two were too weak," the fox said as she started back at the mongoose that had seemed to have gotten yet another piercing since the last time she had seen her.

"Just you wait and see, before long you will be…"

Fiona put her hand in the air to cut Mina off and finish her sentence. "Be inviting my 'favorite' customers back to my place just for some extra cash?" she asked suggestively, raising an eyebrow in accusation. "No thanks."

The mongoose was scowling at her and even though she couldn't see her, the vixen could feel the burning gaze of the cat behind her. Making new friends in a place like this was not something she had any desire in doing. This job was a means to an end, not a life style.

A few more people burst into the bar causing the bell attached to the door to jingle loudly and the girls to shift their gaze away from one another. Mina was the first to gasp.

"Holly shit," Blaze said in amazement. "What are they doing here?"

"Who?" Fiona asked as she eyed an oddly professionally dressed coyote and young but rough looking fox enter the room.

"What do you mean who?" Mina asked. "Do you have any idea who they are?"

"No, should I?" the vixen asked unimpressed with the new comers.

"The fox, surely you have heard of him," Blaze said as she nodded in his direction.

There didn't seem to be anything special about him apart from the two tech 9s that were holstered on his hips. Then Fiona rubbed her eyes as if unsure to believe them. _He has two tails, _she thought to herself as she put the pieces together. _A Freedom Fighter._ She had run into members of the Resistance before, but not this one. Wanted posters with his face were plastered all over the post office.

"That right there, Fiona, is Miles Prower. Take a good look, because it's not often you will see him and live to talk about it."

"What do you mean?" the vixen asked.

"He isn't at the top of Julian's most wanted list for nothing honey. That fox has killed nearly as many Dominion Agents as Sonic."

That name she knew. But then again everyone did.

"So, what are they doing here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, but I am willing to bet they are not here for the entertainment."

The room had quieted substantially once most of the customers had noticed the pair of Freedom Fighters in the room. The humans especially seemed to fade into the background, shielding their faces if gazes wandered in their direction.

"Well then there is one way to find out," Fiona said as she walked towards the two tailed fox.

"What are you doing Fi?" Blaze whispered to her with a petty amount of concern layered in.

The vixen responded with a sinister grin, which she continued to wear even as she approached the table. It wasn't every day Fiona had the fortune of meeting another fox, especially one with two tails. More than that, she was captivated by his reputation. Not a single person in the room wasn't afraid of the kit. She had grown up on the worst Capital City's streets. Tough meant something different to her than most and she didn't see any reason to fear this Miles Prower.

"What'l it be boys?" she asked in a serious tone as if she had no idea who they were.

The fox eyed her from floor to the tips of her ears, sizing her up, unsure of what to make of her.

"We's are not requiring anyzing at zis time, mam," the Coyote responded with a thick French accent.

"Why don't you order a drink?" she suggested. "Everyone here is going to think you are up to something if you don't."

"Who says we aren't?" the kit said with a smile on his face.

She stared back at the fox blankly, unimpressed.

"Fine," he said in response as he got up on to his chair. "Anyone one here want a drink?" he yelled.

A few cheers went up throughout the room.

"Drinks for everyone on me, hell, make it two," Miles said out loud as he slapped a fat wad of cash onto the table.

The room exploded into excitement at the prospect of free drinks, cheering the fox out loud, "to Miles Prower," a badger barked hoisting a glass high into the air. Surprisingly even the humans joined in, somehow more at ease with a notorious public enemy in the room now that he was buying them drinks.

With a furrowed brow the vixen tried to estimate the value of the money in front of her, but she could barely recall a time in recent memory when she had seen that much in one place.

"This is enough to put everyone in this room under the table for two weeks."

"Then keep the change," he insisted.

_Who says you need to dance to make __good tip, _Fiona though to herself as she held back a smirk_._

Colleting the cash, Fiona smiled back at the kit with big bright eyes, "I'll be right back sweetie."

The other girls did not look amused at her success, but they kept their mouths shut as she joined them in pouring the beer. The animals were quick to lap it up, as if their life depended on it.

"This was the last thing we needed," Blaze sighed, "They are bad enough when they get through drinking what they can afford."

That turned out to be true. Everyone was twice as unruly by the time she got around to delivering the second round. The wolf who had grabbed her Tail before felt doubly compelled to try for something a little more.

"Hey!" she screamed at him, "What did I tell you!?"

"Not sure I can remember," he replied sarcastically through stuttered speech.

"Try it again and I will remind you," Fiona said through gritted teeth as she turned away.

The slimy feeling of his hand on the back of her leg returned as soon as she looked away. Without even thinking she whisked his paw away, bending it well past the breaking point. The wolf howled when his wrist made a snapping sound that seemed to cut through the chatter in the room. By now everyone was watching as the fox disabled a Mobian nearly twice her size while carrying a platter of drinks in her off hand. He moved to stop her with his other arm, but the vixen kicked the chair out from underneath him as she grabbed his face and smashed it into the bar in front of him. His body slumped to the floor in an unconscious state.

"No touching," Fiona said coolly to the wolf lying on the ground while setting drinks down in front of his friends.

They however, did not appear to be amused, all of whom stood up and surrounded her. Fiona wasn't one to back down from a fight, but she knew this one was going to hurt. Even if they were drunk, they were a couple of large Mobians, the bear the most concerning of the bunch.

A whistled pierced the air, forcing everyone to turn towards the source. Miles sat in his chair, arms crossed, looking at the other fox slightly amused.

"I hope none of you were thinking of hitting a lady," the kit said with a broad smile on his face that only seemed to beg them to test him.

"Hardly a lady if you ask me," the bear growled as he backed away from Fiona.

She curtsied for them just to prove the opposite; although she was quite confident no one bought her performance. Fiona returned to the bar to grab the last of the lager before she headed back to the two tailed fox's table.

"I appreciate the sentiment," she began as she set the drinks on the Freedom Fighter's table, "but I can handle myself just fine."

"I can see that," Miles replied, "but I thought I would save you the trouble. I think you made your point quite clear," the two tailed fox continued as he motioned to the wolf no one had bothered to move.

"That one never could figure it out," she said under her breath.

"Do I have any room left of my tab?"

Fiona looked back at the fox in surprise, "I think you still got a couple thousand left on it. Would you like something a little better to drink?" she asked nodding towards the Coyote who had yet to touch either of his beers?"

"No zy I am not ze types of person to be touching zis stuff."

"Then what are you interested in?"

"Nothing that's on the menu," Tails said with a plain look on his face.

_He's cute,_ Fiona thought to herself. He may have been seventeen to her twenty, but his attitude and stature made up for what most grown men lacked.

"Sorry honey, I don't think you can afford it."

"I didn't even tell you what I want."

"You think you're the first smooth talker to come in here?"

The fox pulled out another stack of a hundred dollar bills, "What is your definition of 'cannot afford'?"

"Do you have a duffle bag full of those?" the vixen asked motioning to the money in his hand.

The kit set the money down and stared back at her with a grin, "your boss has got something for me in the back, perhaps you could go get it?"

The fox blushed; she hadn't realized Miles was talking discreetly about something entirely different, "I… I am sorry I thought that you were talking about… I will go get that for you."

"Wait," he called out for her, "He isn't going to hand it over without this," the kit said as he pushed the stack of bills across the table.

"Right," she replied as she picked up an even larger helping of money.

_Whatever he does pays __well,_ the vixen couldn't help but think as she thumbed through each sheet of the green paper, smelling that distinctive odder that made her just a little bit happier.

"Boss," she said knocking on the office door in the back room.

"What have I told you about bothering me this time of day!?" a scream came back.

"There is a Miles Prower here to collect something,"

"What, already?" the response came over shuffling and scrambling. "Does he have the money?"

The door swung open rapidly and Fiona held out the cash in response.

"Here, give him this."

The pasty white English man with aspirations larger than most thrust a small package into her hands as he ripped the money out of hers. Without so much as a thank you he slammed the door in her face, leaving her almost confused about their exchange.

Fiona shook the box gently as she walked back into the main room. It wasn't big whatever it was. _What could be worth __so__ much__ that would fit in here?_

"Here you go Mr. Miles Prower, sir," the vixen said as she presented him with the box.

"Tails," he responded almost harshly.

"What?"

"My friends call me Tails."

Fiona smiled back at him, "Anything else Miles?"

"Depends,"

"On what?" she asked hiding all the amusement in her voice.

"What do you recommend?"

"Our beer borders on piss, the vodka is one part water and one part rubbing alcohol, and the only thing left after that is the entertainment. That is if you are in to that type of thing."

The fox seemed to mull it over in his head.

"Tails, wez gots what you needed. I thinkz it best for us to be getting out of here, no?"

"Can it Twan," the kit snapped at his partner. "Do you dance?" Miles asked inquisitively.

The grin on her face grew. She should have known this fox was toying with her, "I already told you sweetie. You can't afford it."

"Not even with my credit?"

_He is trying so hard,_ Fiona thought as her cheeks turned a little red. However, she knew it was working. His charm, or rather lack thereof, was welcoming. His candor and playfulness was convivial compared to the slobs that roamed most of Capital City's underbelly.

"Sorry honey, I don't dance. Call it a personal rule of mine."

"Perhaps you miss understood me."

"How is that?"

"I don't want you to dance for me. I want you dance with me."

The request caught her off guard. Too often people wanted things from her, but this was different. Realizing that her mouth was still agape she quickly shut it and walked away before she embarrassed herself anymore. _Fiona, why are you making such a fool of yourself in front of him?_

"What's with that look?" Mina asked as she continued washing the glass wear.

"He asked me to dance," Fiona replied softly.

"And you said no," Blaze said confidently, "Miss I am too good for everyone else."

"And after such a big tip," Mina added on.

"If you think a fox like that is going to walk in here every day Fi, you got another thing coming."

_What are you doing Fiona? You can't just let__ a cute fox like that__ walk out of here. Maybe he could take you with him.__ There has to be more to the world than this city._

"You're right," the vixen responded.

"What do you mean I am right?" Blaze asked confused.

"Where is the music?"

"In the binder next to the disc player. Why?" Mina answered visibly surprised by the fox's sudden change in heart.

_What good is looking through this when you don't know a single damn song?_ The vixen asked herself as she flipped through the list. Closing her eyes, she blindly pointed to a track. "Fade Into Darkness," the fox sighed, _Something tells me this isn't how I want to start things_. But rather than pick something else she stomached her blind choice and slid the disc into the machine.

"Fi, what are you doing, stage is that way," Mina reminded her as she walked out into the main room of the bar.

* * *

Now Playing:_ Fade into_ Darkness By: _Avicii_

Lyrics Referenced below are not mine.

* * *

When the first note hit, the lights dimmed and the entire room looked in her direction. Slowly she approached the bewildered kit as she moved her hips side to side. _They want a show and he wants a girl, why not make everyone happy?_

Offering him her hand he was hesitant to grasp it. She pulled him gently to his feet and gave him a moment to steady himself. Somehow the fox seemed unprepared. As she led him into a clearing Fiona wrapped her silky tail around the kit, pulling him in close. It took a while for him to respond, but the kit picked up his step soon enough. _Perhaps he was expecting something with a slower beat?_ She thought with a small amount of concern.

"Looking up there is always sky, rest your head I will take you high," the song began.

If he was he didn't let it show. In no time at all he had literally swept the vixen off her feet, twirling her around with strength she never anticipated. When her feet did find the ground again she pressed her forehead to his staring into his deep blue eyes, which glowed an odd shade of orange in the dim light. The reprieve was only momentary and she once again found herself being spun faster than she could keep up with. The room became a blur and the song hypnotic. Fiona had never been scared of falling in love until this fox entered her life. Each memory seemed to seep into the next as she continued to fall for the kit.

"Hold my hand, just in case, and we won't face into darkness," echoed inside of her head.

Panting in excitement she could barely remember the kit leading her out of the bar as the song ended. His gentle touch was magnetic and it felt as if she had left her resistance to him inside. The vixen almost laughed out loud when she realized what was happening. Fiona had sworn to herself that she would never trust anyone but herself, but from the first time she saw Miles, she knew there was something different about him. He was everything she wanted, but the vixen didn't know how to tell him that.

When she finally caught her breath, it was at the top of a fire escape on a building two blocks away. The fox had assured her the view of the stars would be better from there, but that is hardly what she cared about.

"Take me with you," she blurted out all at once as she followed him onto the roof.

The look on the fox's face did not bode well for the answer he was about to give, "I wish that I could."

"I am as good a fighter as any, you won't need to worry about me."

The kit chuckled at her enthusiasm, "There is more to it than that."

If only he knew who she really was. The fox that she used to be, perhaps then he wouldn't be treating her like the cute vixen he saw.

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Fiona asked.

"We don't just trust anyone," Miles said trying not offend her. "You grew up here and there probably isn't a Mobian that I know who would vouch for a fox who grew up in Capital City. The Acorns are cautious people."

"Are you saying you wouldn't vouch for me?" Fiona said putting on a frown.

The kit laughed again, "I barely know the first thing about you. Sure you can fight, but can you shoot? How are you in a tight spot? Can you rob a bank? Ever killed someone? How about a Dominion Agent?"

She stared at him blankly. He was right he didn't know the first thing about her. Pulling him in close she gave him a long kiss to distract him as she freed one of his Tech 9s. When she pulled away, the vixen took aim at a flowerpot on the building across the street and pulled the trigger. It exploded into a thousand pieces with a thunderous crack that echoed about the surrounding apartment complexes. Despite the noise, no one seemed brave enough to surface; the sound of gun fire was something that everyone in the Upper East Side was familiar with.

It was his turn to look surprised, "Well that answers that question then."

"Do I really need to answer the others?"

The kit put a paw on the side of her muzzle as he moved closer to kiss her again.

_Such a naive fox,_ she thought as they continued their embrace. While he had raddled off his list of accomplishments that were no doubt meant to impress her, it was obvious that kissing a girl was not included. _You can kill all the Dominion agents you like Miles, but it won't make up for something you have never done. _

Although she knew she wasn't one to judge. The nights she had spent with male companions were few and far between and never seemed to venture much further than a brief kiss. _He is getting better though,_ she thought as she felt the softness of his lips press against hers again.

Before long she pushed him away, "I don't want you to get any funny ideas now."

"Did my money finally run out?"

The vixen shoved him lightheartedly. The truth was she felt herself be drawn to him, and it scared her. Fiona knew better than to get attached to anyone, but she felt as if it may have been too late for that. She had spent her whole life relying on herself. Letting someone else in seemed dangerous, but her heart was clear about what it wanted.

"Would you like to see what I got," the kit asked as he playfully tossed the small package she had given him earlier.

With a flick of his combat knife, the tape that sealed the box fell away and he removed what looked like a pair of glasses.

"Not very fashionable if you ask me," the vixen remarked as he put them on.

The kit chuckled as his fingers found a button on the goggle's wire frames. The glass came to life with glowing green lines that where hardly legible to her.

"Here," he insisted, "try 'em out for yourself."

Fiona let her two tailed companion place the device on her face. At first there was nothing as her eyes darted around the world expecting to see something.

"It's not working."

"Try focusing on something."

She couldn't help but look at him. Almost instantly his profile came up and details flooded the screen. The information was endless and she couldn't consume it fast enough. The girls in the bar hadn't been lying; the fox was no one to mess with and was clearly in the upper echelon of the Resistance. He smiled at her when he realized what she was doing.

"See something you like?"

Fiona smirked as she turned her attention towards the roads below. Immediately street names appeared at the cross sections along with the amount of time left before a traffic light changed. A glance at the apartment building across the street revealed the width of the windows and the unit that each one belonged to. The HUD even showed her the current flowing through the power lines.

"Pretty cool huh?" the kit asked rhetorically as she removed took them off.

The vixen had always been used to her heightened senses, but this piece of tech took her awareness of her surroundings to an entirely new level.

"Not bad," she replied trying to act unimpressed. "Kind of ruins the fun though."

The kit took the glasses back before returning them to the box.

"Some things are better left a mystery," Fiona added now concerned the kit may discover her secret.

Before long the two were on their backs lying next to one another as they stared longingly at the stars, passing the time in each other's company. She had never bothered to look up before and it felt odd that this was the first time the vixen was noticing the multitude of worlds that existed above her head. Ordinarily it would have made her life feel meaningless, but somehow lying next to the Miles, made it seem like the possibilities were endless.

"Miles?" she asked breaking the long silence.

"I told you, call me Tails."

"Miles," she repeated knowing that it bothered him. "Take me with you."

* * *

Feed back is greatly appreciated! Let me know what you think so far.

Cheers,

M.D


	6. Best Served Cold

In just the time it took her to catch her breath, the vixen had lost what she was so sure she loved. Inhaling deeply she shut her eyes to the cloudless night sky. Sleep was sneaking up on her, but she would gladly stay out until the sun crept above the skyline if it meant spending more time with the fox she had met that evening.

"Miles," Fiona asked softly.

Only the sound of a car passing by on the streets below responded. When she looked to her right, the place the kit had been laying only a few moments ago was empty. Without so much as a goodbye or a kiss goodnight the two tailed fox had all but dematerialized. There wasn't a solitary trace of him or where he had gone. Fiona got to her feet, listening for his tell tale footsteps and smelling for his lingering fragrance.

"Miles," she called out again, still confused as to how he could have just left her there.

"Show off," the vixen said out loud, now frustrated that someone was even more mysterious than her. The red shadow had fancied herself as quiet as darkness itself, but to disappear into thin air was a feat she had not yet conquered.

"What did you expect Fi?" The fox asked herself as she found the stairs on the fire escape. "He is part of the Resistance, he doesn't have time for you."

For the first time in recent memory the vixen found herself fighting back tears. It wasn't like her to let something as trivial as another Mobian get under her skin. She knew better than to let someone else in. Even at just two blocks, the walk back to the tavern felt like a marathon. Her heart pounded against her chest, trying desperately to tell her something, but it was a muscel she had become unfamiliar with.

The bell above the door snapped her back into existence as she wandered into the Barn Yard. There was no one left save for the wolf still unconscious on the floor and her fellow employees. They eyed her with large grins on their faces, no doubt trying to contain themselves.

"That was awfully quick. Didn't think we would see you until tomorrow," Mina said doubling the size of a smirk Fiona already wanted to slap off her face.

The vixen collapsed onto a bar stool doing her best to ignore the other girls. They were immature and only saw what they wanted to see.

"Tired?" Blaze asked playfully. "I can't imagine he was easy to keep up with."

They were getting close to crossing the line. In her time working for Ixis, she was confident no one had ever seen her angry. She was bottling that up for a special day, but they were getting close to a free sample.

"Oh c'mon Fi, you need to give us something here. How was he?" the mongoose asked as she wiped down the counter in front of her.

The fox raised her eyebrows as if to ask if it was a serious question.

"Yeah," the feline chimed in giddily, "I mean Miles Prower. Wow that's so cool."

When she didn't respond to their banter, the pair finally put it together that perhaps something was wrong.

"Fi?" Blazed asked now sounding concerned, "Are you okay?"

"He just left," she finally sighed.

"They always do," Mina replied trying to comfort her, "I mean what did you expect from a Freedom Fighter?"

Just like Miles, they clearly didn't know her very well. Fiona couldn't find the energy to tell them she hadn't slept with him. It wasn't surprising to her in the least that was the only thing they could assume either.

"This might help you forget about him," Blaze suggested as she pushed the wolf's untouched beer towards her, "I don't think he will be needing it."

The vixen, much like the coyote she had met earlier that night, usually refrained from touching the stuff. However, she felt as if the occasion allowed for it. Picking up the warm glass of lager she tipped it back until half of the liquid was gone. The taste was almost intolerable, but she didn't care. The alcohol worked quickly to dull the pain in her chest and her taste buds alike.

"They are best served cold," Mina commented after seeing the fox nearly gag.

"Don't let him get to you," the cat said sympathetically as she retreated back to closing down the bar for the night.

Fiona upended the mug and polished off the rest of her beer. It was too late not to let the two-tailed kit get to her, but at least she could try to forget. As the vixen drifted deeper into thought, the unconscious Mobian on the floor finally began to stir. Grumbling and moaning loudly he attempted to return to his feet, but was still too drunk for his own good. The vixen had better things to than help some low life, even if those things involved wallowing in her own self pity.

"Come on, Karl," Mina said as she knelt down to help him up, "Let's make sure you get home alright."

"What the hell happened?" the wolf finally managed.

"You forgot the rules," Fiona said gruffly from her spot on the stool, "again."

Whether he ignored her or didn't hear, it made little difference. The mongoose whisked him out of the bar and into the night air that was full of nothing but misery. The vixen turned back to the tap in front of her and leaned across the bar to help herself to a refill.

"Take it easy there Fi," Blaze said eyeing the tall glass of beer the fox was pouring herself.

Fiona ignored her and instead started in on her new drink.

The fox chuckled when she came up for air, "they are better cold."

Even after everyone had left, Fiona remained, cobbling together words that she would likely never have a chance to say to a particularly unusual fox. Just whispering them to herself helped take the edge off, but did little to change the reality of her situation. As the night pressed on, so did she, but it was only a matter of time before her world went black with an alcohol induced sleep. Resting her head on her forearms, the fox couldn't even remember closing her eyes. What she soon remembered however, was the hangover. The sound of the door in the back room opening jarred her awake.

"Someone had a long night," Mina said snidely as she approached the groggy fox.

The mongoose's voice was grating to her ears. Fiona's head throbbed as she opened her eyes to the afternoon light.

"Like yours wasn't just as long?" Fiona stammered suggestively through the pain.

"Try to put on a smile, Fi. Your shift starts in an hour."

The vixen removed herself from the barstool and found the dirty floor with her feet. Nothing about dealing with drunks seemed appealing to her at the moment. The ache she felt was her own fault, and that of a certain Resistance fighter. However, in the end she did what she always did and took the night in stride. After just a few hours of serving unruly customers, things were starting to feel normal again. Given her luck though, she wasn't counting on it to last. The awkward glances of her co-workers told her something was amiss.

"Pst, Fi," Mina whispered loudly over the ruckus in the room, "Did you see who was here?"

The vixen followed the not so subtle pointer finger of the mongoose over to a darkened corner of the bar. In the shadows sat a very familiar looking two tailed fox. How he had managed to get in without her seeing him was a mystery, but then again she suspected this freedom fighter was probably shrouded in them.

"The nerve on him," Blaze added, but not in a whisper. "Honey don't you worry about him, I'll take care of him for tonight."

Fiona had the strangest suspicion the cat meant that in more ways than one_. __If only she knew the naivety of the fox._

"It's alright," the vixen responded, "I can handle him myself."

In her sleepless fit, Fiona had once again organized a monolog of things to say, but the closer she got the more the words faded. When she finally did take the seat across from him, there was nothing left but a blank look on her face.

"Sorry," the kit began in a tone that sounded surprisingly sympathetic.

But she didn't want to listen to his apologies, so she made an obvious move to leave.

"Sometimes it is easier just to walk away," he continued. "We are not supposed to get… 'involved' with others. I thought it would be better for us both if I just wasn't there when you opened your eyes."

_Bette__r__?_ The vixen thought sourly, _better would have been you keeping the promise you never __got a chance to make__. _

"So then what are you doing here now?" Fiona asked annoyed.

Miles smiled as he leaned back in his chair, "Hoping to take you with me."

It was if a bomb went off in her chest and a thousand butterflies poured out of its explosion, tickling her insides until the feeling forced her to respond, "I don't understand."

The kit brought paw up the frame on his HUD and the glass became awash in green light, "It wasn't easy for me to walk away last night. It was even harder to stop thinking about you."

The vixen tried to hide her smile, but she could still see her wry smirk in the reflection of his lenses.

"The funny thing about these," Miles continued as he tapped on his glasses, "they can practically read your mind, but there isn't a lot of information on a Fiona Fox."

Her subtle grin retreated quickly. _How much can that thing tell him?_

"Your file stops cold after your thirteenth birthday. Only things in here of consequence are an APB for attempted manslaughter and an attached police report for the death of your parents."

Fiona had managed to go months without thinking about her mom and dad, or about the man who had killed them, but the kit's words brought memories she didn't want flooding back.

Seeing her pain, Miles grabbed her hand from across the table and squeezed it gently, "I know what it feels like to have everything and everyone you love taken from you, but that's not what this is about."

The red fox raised an eyebrow out of curiosity.

"There is another file I stumbled across while perusing the copper's systems. No name, just the alias, 'Red Shadow'. This person, while they are missing all the personal details, has a rap sheet that is almost as long as mine," he continued while he read the text streaming across the tiny screen in front of him. "Twenty counts of armed robbery, over one hundred counts of assault, even more for breaking and entering. This shadow person even managed to get their very own classified Dominion file, which isn't easy to do."

She played the part of a statue and remained quiet while Miles tried to get a read on her.

"That's the type of Mobian we want in the Resistance," the kit said with all to serious of a smile. "I was kind of hoping you might know this 'Red Shadow' because I think I have a job they might be interested in."

Fiona had tried desperately to bury that part of her life, but here she was being asked to step back into it. A peice of her missed running amuck in the city as well as the thrill and excitement that came along with doing so.

"One thing," Fiona asked of the fox sitting opposite her.

"Of course."

"Promise me you won't let me go again."

With just a small tip of his head, Miles set the vixen's world at ease. Her mind which had been desperately panting as it swam laps in her head, trying to stay afloat and find the meaning behind everything was now finally able to breathe.

"Good," Fiona said plainly as she leaned across the table with a smile. "Now I don't suppose you could tell me what that Dominion file says about me?"

Tails laughed lightheartedly, "I thought so. Why didn't you tell me?"

"You mean why don't I advertise I am the pet of crime lord?"

"Fiona, you can trust me."

There it was, the one thing she swore she would never do. _Fi, you know better than to __put faith in__ anyone but yourself._

"Can I? I barely even know you… and after last night…"

The Freedom Fighter bared a whitened smile that was meant to comfort, "The Mobian best known as the 'Red Shadow' evaded Dominion custody after disabling the operation's three lead agents and capturing the prisoner. This was despite every precaution, including two armored SWAT bot units. The subject is to be considered extremely dangerous and should be killed on sight."

"Almost forgot about all of that."

"Not many people tango with SWAT bots and live to tell about it."

The vixen shrugged if it wasn't that big of a deal.

"They are a problem where I come from," Tails added. "I haven't heard of them being used in the city before. You must have really pissed them off."

"You don't know the first thing about this city," Fiona nearly spat.

"And I suppose you know all about what it's like where I come from?"

She didn't respond, how could she? The red fox had never taken a step outside of her territory let alone bother to care for those who did.

"Perhaps you would?" Tails asked.

Fiona answered his questions with a look of confusion.

The kit slid the still active HUD across the table, "To know what it is like where I come from?"

Cautiously she picked the tech up, almost as if she was afraid of what it might show her. The vixen's hesitation turned out not to be misguided, the atrocities were endless. Pictures, news clippings, numbers, and dates all streamed across the glass in front of her. Her whole life she had been buried in the selfishness of her city. Not once had she picked up a paper or even bothered to head the plight of another Mobian. Fiona had always assumed where she lived to be the most dangerous, but according to the display on her face nothing could have been further from the truth.

"Julian has been after us for years," Miles began. "Even before he was president he waged a secret war on us. He used to be an ambassador to our people, but at the same time he was running black-op campaigns to thin out the early members of the Resistance. That's when I lost my parents."

The vixen slowed down the speed of the data, trying now, more than ever to understand what it all meant.

"Before that," the kit continued, "he was just a scientist with a distinct fascination for Mobians."

The images made her speechless. What she had dealt with in her life was only the tip of a much larger iceberg, one that the oceans of media seemed determined to cover up.

"Come on," Miles begged her as he got up, "I have something I want to show you."

Fiona did her best to follow him out the back of the bar while she continued to consume a history she never knew existed. Neither Blaze or Mina gave her approving looks on the way out, but she could hardly blame them.

"Where are we going?" Fiona asked as they walked down the lonesome back alley.

"The wharf."

"Are you kidding me? That's clear on the other side of the city and crawling with coppers."

"Relax, I have that covered," the kit responded as he produced a large helping of keys and tossed them into the air casually. "Like my ride?" he asked motioning to a car tucked away in the shadows.

When she took her focus off the text in the HUD a copper's cruiser came into view. The sleek black sedans were well known and unmistakable.

"You stole this?"

"I like to think of it as 'barrowing'. I don't really plan on keeping it."

"You know they tend to notice when these go missing."

"Yeah," Tails responded as he popped the trunk on the vehicle, "they usually do unless of course you have the copper that goes with them."

Sure enough a man in uniform was bound and gagged in the back of his own patrol car.

The two-tailed fox removed the tape from his mouth and held up a radio, "You know the drill."

"Unit 34 checking in. All clear. Over," the copper said with surprisingly little hesitation.

"Roger that unit 34. Over," dispatches response crackled over the speaker.

After replacing the tape, the fox shut the trunk and walked around to the driver side.

"Coming?" he asked.

_He knows how to have fun, __I'll give him that__, _Fiona thought as a smile lit up her face.

"What exactly did you say we were going to do again?" the vixen asked as she got in the front seat next to him.

"I didn't."

While the kit had his fun peeling out into traffic, lights ablaze and siren wailing, she immersed herself deeper in the world she should have grown up in.

"It says that Julian was ambassador, but resigned after King Acorn declared war," Fiona proclaimed loudly over the roar of the car's engine.

"Right, which is all he wanted in the first place. The only reason Kintobor ever took the job was so that he could earn our trust. Inside of a few months he knew everything about us. That's when the raids started. Key people went missing or turned up dead. When King Acorn found out the government was behind it, well, there was no stopping him from retaliating. Julian only meant to goad us into war so he had an excuse."

"An excuse for what?" Fiona inquired as she brought up King Acorn's file.

"For systematically killing and torturing us. We are his lab rats. The only way he could sell genocide was if we were a threat, so he made us a threat."

"It says the King is dead, so isn't the war over?"

Tails took his eyes away from the road for longer than she would have liked as he sized up whether to take her question seriously. Fiona had no qualms about putting her life in his hands, but he was driving like he had a death wish. Even with the cruiser's lights on, cars only barley managed to get out of their way in time.

"You really don't get out much do you? The king is dead, Kintobor saw to that in his first year as president." The fox answered reluctantly. "However, the war is far from over, his daughter picked up the pieces and kept things moving."

"Kept things moving? How? This report makes it seem like Kintobor pillaged half the country side just to kill him."

"He did and then some, so we just moved into the other half."

The vixen reached for something hold onto as the fox driving the car turned the wheel hard as he skidded the car around a corner. The vehicle rocketed onto an onramp followed by the freeway.

"Are we in a hurry," Fiona asked as she took a look at the speedometer that was racing past 140mph.

"No, but since I stole this car I figured I may as well drive it like it."

"I thought you 'barrowed' it?"

"Isn't that what I said?" Tails responded with a big grin.

Fiona giggled a little. He was showing off, but she didn't mind. Perhaps she would do a little of her own later.

"So how exactly do you intend on winning this?"

"It hasn't been about winning for a long time, Fiona. Just surviving. We throw our lives on the line so other Mobians can live a little longer."

"So then why bother? Why keep fighting if you know you are not winning?"

"For most of it is personal. When someone takes something away from you, it's not easy to let go."

The red fox nodded in return. She knew that all too well.

"But it sounds like you know how this ends. All the data you have says Julian out guns you 100 to 1."

"Now that we are not out in the open, we are harder to catch. The Resistance has moved the entire battle underground and off the grid. We don't fight in fields and city streets anymore. Instead our goal is to crimple his resources until that tub of lard is on equal footing. He may have the man power, but we have something else on our side."

"Righteousness?" she inquired.

"There is that," the kit answered back as he swerved between lanes of traffic. "But what counts is the will to live. Kintobor will never understand how valuable life is because he only seeks to destroy and control it. Every single one of us will fight until our last breath in defiance of him."

"Defy him or not, doesn't it seem futile? It's not just him, it's this entire country. They think you are the enemy."

"Let them think what they want. You seem to underestimate our capabilities. Julian claims to have us under control, but yet he hasn't made a single public appearance after murdering the king. Why? Because he is afraid. This war is no longer a test of strength and power, it's about will and perseverance."

Fiona looked out the window and into the bay as the car streaked over the bridge. She couldn't quite see herself fighting for a cause other than one that served her. They blamed Julian for everything; the vixen blamed someone else entirely. Kintobor hadn't gunned her parents down in cold blood, even if he had created the festering environment that encouraged it. The only thing taking on something larger than herself would accomplish would be a shorter life.

"What about Sonic?" Fiona asked as she brought up a file on the blue hedgehog.

"What about him?" Tails asked as he took the next exit at a speed so severe the car left the ground.

"The Dominion's file says he can move at an as of yet undetermined speed."

"There are villains, and then there are heroes. Something needs to balance out all the bad in this world."

"His body count suggests he might be the reaper himself."

"Have you checked Kintobor's?"

"Well if Sonic is our champion and Julian the enemy, what exactly does that make us?" the red fox asked as the car came to a screeching halt outside a posh apartment building in an up and coming part of the city.

"Soldiers," Tails responded before shutting the car off. "Pick your side, not that you have too many choices."

"You always have a choice. I could just walk away."

"And miss all the fun?" the kit asked lightheartedly as he exited the vehicle. "That doesn't sound like you."

_You don't know me Miles, _she wanted to remind him, but thought better of it. The vixen knew herself well enough to know he was right.

"Who lives here?" Fiona asked as she shut the car door behind her.

"No one I know."

Miles wasn't lying when he said the HUD could practically read your mind. Almost immediately a list of names scrolled across her screen, but none of them jumped out at her.

"Come on," the kit insisted as he bound up the steps and swiped a card through a reader on the door.

The vixen followed reluctantly into the small lobby. There was no one around this late at night, but it didn't stop her from feeling out of place. Not even Ixis' habitat was as well decorated. Fiona knew no matter what she said there was no getting Miles to talk about why they were here, so instead she bid her time and followed him up the stairwell. After nine flights, she found herself in a hallway just a few paces behind him.

"We're here," Tails said quietly as he motioned to an apartment door.

Fiona didn't understand what they were doing on the other side of the city. She failed to see how this was any type of job at all. The only reason the vixen was there was because the kit had made it seem important. When the number 907b came into view on the door, the glasses did their work and brought up the profile on the occupant, or what would have been the occupant had it not been unlisted.

"Would you like to do the honors?" he asked as he offered her one of his tech 9s.

"You still haven't told me what we are doing here," she responded as she took a hold of the weapon.

Miles smiled as he knocked softly on the door, "Consider it a gift."

"Who is it?" a somewhat familiar gruff voice called out from the other side.

The two tailed fox tapped his knuckles on the thick panel of wood again. There were not many things as deceiving as a gentle knock in the middle of the night.

"Hold on, hold on damn it," the man said as he slid chain from the lock and undid the deadbolt.

When the door opened it was hard to say who was more surprised, the fox with a gun in her hand or the man who had killed her parents. Fiona had dreamt of this for nights on end. The vixen had promised him that she would be back for him, but strangely the man proved more elusive than she had anticipated. It made no difference now, he stood in front of her searching for words. Before he found any he opted instead to try and shut the door in her face.

For the past 8 years she had bottled every ounce of her frustration, anger, and hatred waiting for this exact moment. With a kick that would have easily fractured any bone in the man's body, Fiona split the door in two as he tried desperately to close it. The man stumbled backwards, retreating from his now useless barricade. The emotion and power that was coursing through her veins was overwhelming. Without an outlet it felt as if it might tear her apart. She raised her pistol, training it on the murder's forehead.

He sniveled as the vixen screamed, "You pathetic piece of shit!"

"How – how did you find me?" the man asked through pathetic groveling. "They swore that I would be safe here. They told me not even you would be able to find me."

"I told you didn't I?" the vixen said with a look of satisfaction on her face, "I told you that I would be back. And what do you know, there is no one around to hear you scream."

"Honey," a worried voice called from another room. "What's going on?"

The footsteps of a much smaller person approached until the slender body of a woman entered the pale light of the room. To Fiona's surprise the lady had enough common sense not to scream when she saw the gun in her husband's face. _Almost no one__ will hear you scream__, _the fox corrected herself.

Fiona glanced back at her partner who was leaning casually against the doorframe, watching her in amusement. When she turned back to the scum that lay at her feet, he was scampering across the floor, making for his desk on the other side of the room. The vixen sighed as she followed him with no sense of urgency. _Surely he can't expect this to work._

However, it seemed that he did. The man ripped open a drawer and reached inside only to have the red fox kick it shut with his limb still inside. He screamed in pain as he removed a swollen and empty hand. With a light toss, Fiona returned Tails' gun before reaching inside desk to find what she already knew was waiting for her. The silver berretta gleamed in the light as she tilted it side to side. Her enemy's weapon was now hers once again. It's weight and feel unchanged since the first time she held it.

"What do you want?" the woman asked. "We don't have any money."

Fiona brought the broad side of her new pistol across the man's face. The rage driven blow splattered the walls with blood as the murder collapsed all the way to the floor.

"You think I am here for money?"

"If not that, than what?" his wife pleaded in a now much higher pitched voice.

"I want him to understand the pain that he has caused me. I want him to feel what my parents felt before he killed them."

"You're crazy," he shouted desperately. "Help!"

The fox plugged a round into his leg and his cries for assistance turned into whimpers of pain.

"Tell me how it's fair?" the fox asked. "Tell me how it's fair that you get to come home to a family after you took mine?"

The man didn't respond.

"Why?" Fiona yelled at the top of her lungs.

"I already told you," the murderer replied reluctantly as he looked up from his bleeding wound.

"Why did you kill them?" Fiona demanded.

"Because I could, damn it. I thought it would be fun. I was drunk I… I am sorry."

The words almost sounded real, but the vixen knew people would say anything when their life was on the line. The only thing she was able to take solace in was the look of disgust on his wife's face. _At least she knows the truth now._

"Sorry," the fox snorted. "You're sorry? You're not sorry, but I bet I can make you sorry."

"If you kill me," the murder said though labored breathing, "you and I, we won't be any different."

"No, that's where you're wrong. If I killed her," Fiona said as she shifter her sights towards his wife, "then I wouldn't be any different than you."

The pathetic excuse for a human being was now speechless.

"Do you want to know what it feels like to wake up in the morning with everything that matters in your life missing?"

"She has nothing to do with his," he begged as brought himself to all fours, "leave her out of it."

Fiona would have none of it. She lined up another kick and brought it right into his gut. This time there was no scream, just the sound of the air leaving his lungs. Defenseless he curled up into a ball, gasping. Another glance back at the kit behind her revealed nothing new. It was becoming obvious that he was only here to watch.

"Mom," another new voice called out.

The red fox turned towards the source. The timid tone reminded the vixen of how she once sounded as she approached an all too similar stage. Chilling memories of waking up on a cold sidewalk came tiptoing back from the past as her grip tightened on the gun.

"Please," the woman begged as she knelt down to a young girl with confusion in her eyes, "just leave us be."

Revenges is a dish best served cold, "but not this cold," Fiona sighed to herself as she lowered the silver berretta.

Her whole life she had despised this man for taking her family away from her. Now the fox had her chance for retribution, but at what cost. Before her stood two innocent people who would have to go the rest of their lives missing someone they loved. The world was full of hate that perpetuated itself by breeding more hate. If she pulled the trigger there would be not one, but two humans cursing her for the rest of eternity, continuing they cycle of destruction. The vixen turned to leave; she had done enough damage for one night.

"Let's go," Fiona said as she brushed by Tails.

"If you say so."

"Thank you," the murderer's voice called out in desperation.

The red furred fox stopped in his door way for just a moment, but she chose not to look back. Fiona had let him keep his life, but she was afraid if she turned around it would only be to second guess that decision. Confusion quickly clouded her mind as every possible emotion ran rampant. The vixen threw open the stairwell door at the end of the hall, letting her outburst echo off the bricks in the confined space.

"Wait up," Miles said as he ran after her.

A flash of anger took her over as she turned and threw him into the cement block wall, "What the hell was that?"

He didn't fight back even as she pressed her forearm into is throat, leaving him just enough room to speak.

"I had to see what type of person you were," the kit answered plainly.

"So this was some kind of test?"

"There was no right or wrong answer, just the choice you made. Everyone has their demons, Fiona. I wanted to see if you could handle yours."

The vixen loosened her grip on the kit as she regained control of her emotions.

"I couldn't do it," she admitted reluctantly.

"No, I already told you, you chose not to. Even with all of your hatred you still knew who you were. The Resistance doesn't act on impulse. We fight to preserve life, not take it."

Tails reached his paw out, gently caressing her muzzle as she tried to look away, afraid he would find the fear in her eyes.

"I only wanted to set you free. To show you who you really were," the kit said solemnly.

_Free,_ she pondered as her nerves calmed. It took a moment to realize, but there was something missing now. A hole in her memories, where once only hatred and anger resided, was now waiting be filled with something new. For far too long she had been chained to the thought of revenge.

"Thanks," Fiona replied as she planted a gentle kiss on the Tails' cheek. "You know how to show a girl a good time."

"You don't have to stay under Ixis' thumb forever, Fiona. There is no need to serve him anymore. Doesn't it feel good to be able to make your own choices?"

It was true, it did feel liberating. Had Naugus sent her kill the man, he would be dead whether she had wanted to kill him or not. There was never any decision to be made when she worked for him; Fiona was simply an instrument of his will. However, that didn't stop her from wondering how free she would be working for an underground organization trying to over throw the president.

"One day at a time," the vixen replied as she palmed her new pistol. Unlike her previous weapon, she wouldn't have to give this one back.

* * *

Reviews greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

M.D


	7. The First Time

Fiona had never been so nervous in her life. She always imagined telling someone that you were leaving them would not be easy, but when that person was Ixis Naugus it added another element. The fox had every intention of not going out with the following morning's trash. However, the man's temper was unpredictable, just like the man himself.

There she sat in his make shift office, listening to the tick of the clock that sat atop his desk. Each new second that passed echoed inside her head like the hypnotic rhythm of a metronome. Not much of his former work space had made it to the back of the Barn Yard, but there was certainly no question as to whose office she sat in. The vixen had fallen out of favor with her owner and while she didn't botch the job, having his wife killed while she was on duty was not his idea of a commendable action.

When the door behind her opened up, every mussel in the fox's body instinctively tightened. Miles had no idea how deep her connections were to the crime lord. There was no up and leaving from the life she lead, even if all she did now was serve drinks. It was understood the Ixis owned her, and breaking her leash was most certainly punishable by death. If she wanted to run away with the Freedom Fighter and start a new life, thne she would have to find a way out of her current one first.

His breathing had grown even heavier and more laborsome with age. However, Fiona couldn't help but think that there was an extra note of frustration layered in with it. Ixis was never happy to see her, and even less thrilled with having to speak to her. The fact that she had simply let herself into his office was not the ideal way to start a conversation, but it would certainly get his attention.

"I can only assume there is a good reason for you being in here," Naugus said coolly as he walked passed her.

Fiona nodded. Everything about his demeanor was rubbing her the wrong way. _He should be mad right now. What's wrong with him?_ Naugus had a habit of appearing to be a reasonable person right up until he stuck a knife in you, and even then it was with a smile on his face.

"So then let's have it shall we? What can I do for you?"

No matter how much practicing she had done, the words didn't come out easy, "I want out."

To her surprise, the man on the other side of the table let a small grin sneak through his otherwise perfect poker face.

"Is it our two tailed friend then?"

Even though she tried not to, Fiona couldn't help but look surprised. How he could have known was beyond her.

"I want to get away from all of this," she answered dodging the question all together.

"Do you really think a life in the Resistance is getting away from anything?" Naugus asked as he sat down behind his desk.

The vixen couldn't muster the courage to reply.

"I am not going to stop you from leaving if that is what you want to do," the man continued. "I made you into what you are, but now I am only holding you back. Besides you might do me more good by fighting the good fight. Anyone or anything that puts that prick in his place is fine by me."

Fiona didn't understand. This went against everything she knew about the man. He never gave something away for free.

"However," he continued. "If we are to part ways I need you to do me one last favor. Those papers I gave still leave you in my debt by a sum you are not likely work off with your small time job anytime soon."

This sounded more like the man she worked for. Always with an angle that kept his opponent against the wall.

"Of course, I assumed as much."

"Do you remember the man whom you took the brief case from?" Naugus asked as he opened a desk drawer and produced an old file covered in dust.

The red fox tipped her head in response. The bald man's look of surprise when she had stolen it from him was nearly priceless and just the thought of it brought a smile to her face. The pictures inside the old manila folder were the same that he handed her eight years ago.

"It turns out he is also the one who killed my wife. As much as I would like to see to him myself, I can't go anywhere near him."

"Why not?"

"He is the director of the Dominion. You do remember your run in with them don't you?"

"The ones with the big robots and fancy badges that took you son, yeah I remember them."

"Julian and I are on thin Ice, so going after his staff is not in my best interest. That however, is where you come in."

"What do you want me to do with him?" the vixen asked.

Ixis reached in same drawer and produced her gun. The sound it made as its matte black finish scraped across his wood desk ran a chill through her spine. It was becoming obvious what he was requesting from her and she wanted no part of it.

"Thanks, but I have my own now," Fiona replied as she produced her new pistol.

"Awfully flashy don't you think?"

"Perhaps," Fiona replied as she tilted the silver Beretta side to side letting its glint catch what little light filtered through Ixis' windows, "but it has some sentimental value."

That was putting it lightly. For all she knew the weapon could have been used to kill scores of people, but only two that she cared about. It was an odd thing to carry with her, but it helped fill some strange void. Whether there was still a lingering part of her parents attached to it, or simply her unwillingness to let go, Fiona would never know.

"I could just bring him back here you for you," the vixen suggested.

"No!" he replied sternly. "This is your job. I know you don't like it, but that's tough. If you want out this is your shot."

"Fine," she replied as she flipped to the last page of his file.

It had been updated with an address that was right in the heart of downtown. Nothing about this was going to be easy.

"Make sure you take that two tailed fox with you," Nuagus insisted. "I want this to reek of the Freedom Fighter's doing."

Now it made more sense. If he couldn't have her, Ixis was going to use her for everything she was worth, which included her new friend and his connections.

"Anything else?" Fiona couldn't help but ask.

"As a matter of fact there is."

_Why did I bother opening my mouth?_

"When you're done, you can go anywhere and do anything you like, but you can never come back here. I don't ever want to see you again. Is that clear?"

Fiona had expected this. All business with Naugus was final in one form another. It appears her days of doing work for him were over permanently, but at the very least she got to keep her life.

"I had no intention of coming back."

"Then I look forward to reading tomorrows paper."

The red fox got out of the brown leather chair and made her way towards the office door.

"Fiona," the man called out reluctantly as if he was straining himself to call her name.

She turned to face him and the rather unusual look he was wearing.

"Thank you," he said even though it sounded as if it caused him pain to say so.

Never in all her years of working for him had the man thanked anyone for anything. She wasn't sure what she had done or when, but it was clear that at some point in her life she had made some type of impression on the man. Before she could respond he returned hastily back to his terminal, ignoring her as he began typing. The fox knew better than to trap him in a moment of vulnerability and rather than speak her mind, she simply shut the door behind her.

Tails was parked out back in yet another new car. This one however, was nothing quite as fancy as a copper's cruiser. The little light blue hatchback was nearly rusted through in many parts, its innards on display for the world to see. It certainly didn't turn any heads, but Fiona had a feeling that was the point. She nearly pulled off the chrome handle as she opened the door, much to the kit's chagrin.

"Take it easy," Tails said as she got in and slammed it back shut.

After a moment of silence between them he spoke again, "What's wrong?"

Fiona was still trying to figure out a way to tell him what she had to do. There was little doubt in her mind that he would think nothing of it, perhaps even be happy to do it himself, but this was her job.

"I need to kill him," the vixen responded as she handed the kit the dossier.

"No shit," Miles responded as he looked through the photos. "We have been after this guy forever. How did Naugus get this stuff?"

Fiona shrugged in response, "I did my part, but I never had any idea who he really was."

"Wait, what do you mean you did your part? Do you know who this guy is?"

"Now I do. The director of the Dominion, no doubt one of Julian's finest."

"And you have been in the same room with him?"

"Twice, if a cars and warehouses count."

The two tailed fox laughed lightheartedly, "and what happened?"

"He tried to kill me after I took some things of his."

"Well that certainly explains how you got your Dominion file."

"Yeah," she replied reluctantly, "I guess it does."

"Come on I'll give you a hand with this one, it won't be easy."

_At least I don't have to ask, _Fiona thought to herself as she sighed heavily.

"Fi?" Tails asked as he started the car. "Are you going to be alright?"

It felt as if she had eaten bad leftovers. Her stomach churned round and round tying itself into knots as she worked herself up over what she was going to have to do.

"I – I have never killed anyone before."

The kit missed a shift and grinded as gear as he looked at her with surprise, "You're the red shadow and you have never off'ed anyone?"

The vixen shook her head, now worried she may have disappointed him.

"All those kidnappings, what did you do with them then?"

"Ixis… he is a deeply disturbed man when he is angry."

"Huh, you are even more Freedom Fighter material than I thought. I don't think there are any of us who have done what you have without getting our hands dirty."

"You didn't have Ixis Naugus for a boss," she replied trying to hide the distinct twang of fear in her voice.

"Nope, just a slightly demanding older step sister of sorts. I will introduce you to her some time. I think you two might actually get along."

The thought of friends, let alone family were completely foreign to the vixen, but even just having someone to work with was a welcome reprieve. Fiona did her best to zone out as they pulled away into the busy night streets of Capital City. Her days had grown long, and since the kit had shown up, her nights even longer.

When the car squeaked to a stop, Fiona picked up her head and looked out the window. A tiny three story brick town house greeted her. She recognized it from the photos in the file Ixis had given her. It was on a quiet street just outside of the main drag in down town capital city. Houses this close to the center of town could cost as much as a mansion in the country side. A red brick pathway led right up to its white oak door where two guards stood on either side. Even this late night the house was lit up like there was a party going on. Light poured out of every window spewing into the city, polluting the darkness.

"What are we doing?" Fiona asked nervously as she eyed the well armed soldiers just across the street.

"I thought we could take care of this on the way home, since it was on the way."

"We can't just go in there without a plan."

"I have a plan," the kit assured her as he exited the vehicle into the shadows of the night.

"How could you have a plan? You don't even know the layout," she whispered loudly in return as she followed his lead.

"You don't plan for the building, you plan for the security. There are more alarms in this place than you can imagine. The easiest way to get in is the same way they do. Trip an alarm on one of the windows and half the city's copper show up. Put a few guards to sleep, you get to walk in like you own the place."

"So we are just going to walk in the front door?"

The kit nodded as he stood there taking in all the subtle details. His HUD was hard at work identifying their enemies' weapons, armor, and height. Fiona laughed to herself. She thought for sure that an operation as sophisticated as the Resistance would surly do things differently. Instead the two tailed fox had the same cold brazen confidence she had. The vixen didn't have the fancy tech he had and instead relied on her mind. She counted the steps between the side walk and the nearest guard.

"Dont forget about their armor," Tails reminded her, "9's won't even scratch it."

Fiona never had any intention on shooting them in the first place, but that didn't stop her from thinking about how to tackle an opponent made of metal. As it is both of the men had over a foot on her and weighed in excess of a hundred pounds more than she did. Nothing about getting into a physical confrontation would be fair, but she was used to being the underdog.

"Distract them," Miles said as if it were that easy.

"Distract them? How?" she asked turning to face the fox that had been at her side only a moment ago.

Instead she found nothing. Tails ability to disappear into thin air always left feeling frustrated and inadequate. With no one left to argue with but herself, she inhaled deeply, and began crossing the street, making sure to let her boots collide firmly with the ground. The sharp thud each step she made was surly noticeable to the guards. As her feet found the concrete of the side walk in front the house one of the guards put up his hand signaling for her to stop. Late nights stalking prey had taught her the limitations of light. Stand behind it and it is possible to see everything in front of you. However, if you are foolish to stand in front of it or underneath it as the guards were, then there was no hope of seeing past anything the light didn't touch.

"This is a private residence, what are you doing here?" the man asked as he took a step off the porch, squinting into the darkness.

She lingered in her darkened space, hiding her tail from sight, as the man approached a reddened shadow. Perhaps he would b e able to make out her silhouette, or the exposed teeth in her grin, but the rest would remain a mystery until he took a few more steps.

"What the hell?" the agent said aloud when his vision adjusted. He raised his gun and called out to the other guard, "It's a Mobian."

No doubt the man was expecting a response from his partner, but none was to be had. The silence forced him to turn his head only to find a body slumped against the brick facade. While he was distracted Fiona closed the gap. Reminiscing on Mile's word she started her swing towards one the soft spots in the agent's armor. The unsuspecting man quickly found himself gasping for air after her open fist found his unprotected throat with enough force to crush his windpipe. Sputtering and coughing he backed away from the fox as he attempted to fire his weapon, but she was quicker. The vixen twisted the gun in his hand until his grip gave way and before he could cry out, she brought the butt of it across the side of his head. The unconscious guard crumpled to the ground in a heap of steel plating.

"Not bad," a familiar voice commented from behind.

Fiona turned to find the Tails standing in the shadows a few paces behind her.

"How do you do that?" the red fox demanded somewhat frustrated.

"The same way you do," he replied. "Hide in plain sight."

Fiona growled in annoyance. It was obvious the kit was not going to reveal his secrets, but having plenty of her own she understood. The vixen followed her compatriot up the front steps and waited patiently for him to test the lock.

"What I tell you?" the two tailed fox said with a grin on his face as he slid the door open. "Like we own the place."

"Don't we?" Fiona answered back with an equally big smile.

The inside of the home was sparsely decorated, as if someone had yet to finish moving in. The rug was muddied with foot prints by soldiers who never bothered to wipe their boots. Following the bare walls up to the ceiling the vixen's eyes stumbled across a camera monitoring the entrance. Tails made sure to wave in its direction, no doubt who ever reviewed the footage later would recognize him, fulfilling Ixis' wishes.

"Hey," a voice called out from another room. "Don't you two idiots know how to tell time? There is still another hour before your shift is over."

The kit motioned for her to follow as he shut the door behind them. Just down the hall another room opened up on the right. The sound of late night TV could be heard as two men muttered under their breath.

"Did you hear me?" one of them growled again. "If the boss catches you guys it's all of our asses."

"I wouldn't worry too much about that," Tails answered as he stepped into the living room.

"Aw shit," the other man grumbled, clearly not happy to see the pair of Mobians.

It was an awkward few moments as the four traded stares waiting for the other to make the first move. Each agent only had their side arms; their riffles were across the room leaning against a wall near the fireplace. They sat complacent in their arm chairs, determined not to let their gaze wonder from the foxes.

Miles stepped between them and the TV, "Now we can do this the easy way, or the hard way."

Fiona wasn't quite sure why he bothered asking. They were Dominion agents, they were not going down without a fight. She had figured out long ago they were more than coppers, they were men bent on the destruction of others. All at once one of them let a battle cry as he leapt out of his seat and latched onto the two tailed fox. Both the vixen and the other guard watched as their partners battled. It was surprising to see just how resourceful and capable the kit was even against an opponent that was so much larger. Despite the armor Tails found ways to bend limbs and inflict pain, but he was still at the whims of a man who could quite easily remove him from the ground. With a brutal charge the agent tackled the fox through a wall, creating a cloud of drywall dust as the two disappeared into another room.

As the sounds of their fight echoed throughout the house, the vixen turned back to the other agent who was making a move for his gun on the coffee table next to him. Having caught him in the act, the man guffawed in embarrassment as he hovered his hand over the weapon. It was clear he was contemplating who was faster, but she didn't really feel like giving him the choice. With a smooth sweep of her leg she sent both the table and the gun across the room, leaving the guard with only one choice.

Unlike the first agent she had dealt with, this one was not wearing his helmet, so the first punch she landed drew a fountain of blood from his nose. However, the man was hardly bothered and returned the swing with interest. Even though she only blocked half of it, the vixen was still quite sure she might have a black eye. Brimming with overconfidence, the glorified copper stepped into another punch, but this time she was ready. Fiona had taught herself to use her opponents momentum against themselves. The sound of cartlidge grinding against breaking bone was near as pleasant sounding as claws on a chalk board. Once she had control of his arm the red fox pushed him to the ground. Every time he attempted to move, she forced the limb even further in a direction it didn't belong. It was obvious that was trying to ignore the pain, but every so often a small yelp left his mouth. The vixen clamped around his neck with her free arm, squeezing until his deep breaths grew soft and his resistance fled.

Haven taken care things on her end, Fiona turned back to the new doorway the other two had created. The sound of closed fist find their targets and the grunting that went along with them drew her in for a closer look. However, before she could round the corner, a defining gong like sound erupted throughout the house as the Dominion agent flew backwards against the wall in front of her. Miles emerged from what she quickly determined to be the kitchen twirling a frying pan.

"I bet that was part of you plan too," Fiona said mockingly under her breath.

"I think that might leave a mark," he suggested looking down at the fast growing bruise on the man's head.

"Come on," Fiona remarked trying her best to hide a smile, "Let's find this guy and get out of here."

Even if they were deaf, whoever else was in the house surly knew they were not alone anymore.

"I'll make it easy for you," an eerily similar voice said from behind her.

Turning slowly confirmed her worst fears; the man she had come to kill was standing behind the vixen with a weapon already trained on her head. Tails emerged at her side, with a tech 9 in one hand and the frying pan in the other.

"This doesn't end well for you," the kit said slyly, doing his best to attract his attention.

However, the man didn't seem interested in him.

"I never thought I would see this red fox again. Two years without so much as a trace, and now you show up on my door step? What did I do to deserve this?"

"We both know the answer to that," Fiona answered back as she raised her hands in defeat.

"You don't know what you are getting yourself into. Naugus isn't telling you everything."

"That all doesn't really matter does it?"

The man chuckled for a moment, "No I suppose it doesn't, because neither one of us is walking out of here alive tonight."

It all happened so fast she couldn't be sure what took place. Her vision turned black momentarily as two guns shots went off, followed abruptly by another loud clank. When she found the courage to resume breathing and open her eyes, the red fox found her target clutching the bleeding hand that was once holding a weapon. The metallic pan, which now had a sizeable dent in it, lay at her feet with a bullet lodged in the middle.

"You owe me," Tails said plainly as he followed her gaze.

She could hardly believe that he had managed to pull that off, or that he had the audacity to try it in the first place.

"Now let's get this over with before more of these guys show up," the kit continued as he walked up to the man.

"No," she nearly screamed.

Both the director and Miles looked at her in confusion.

"I thought you said you had to kill him?"

"I did," the vixen confirmed, "and I do. Not you. Naugus doesn't like it when things aren't done his way."

Slowly Fiona approached the man as he looked up from the ground with nothing but disdain for her in his eyes. There was no begging, no pleading like there was with the other scum she had dealt with. This man, like her, had looked death in the face more than once and defied it with his will alone. Reaching for her holster, the vixen's paw found the rubber grip on her pistol. Her hand was shaking as she leveled the shot. However, before she pulled the trigger Fiona first had to decide who she was doing for. Herself? Ixis? Or a third an equally unlikely option, love? Miles stood at her side unfazed about what she had to do. If she was doing it for Ixis, Fiona was still his pet and that didn't sit well with her. The vixen couldn't find a reason that she would do this for herself, which left only love, and that was as good a reason as any.

The gun shot reverberated in her head as she watched the man fall backwards. It was the first time she felt a piece of her fade away. She could have stayed and watched the blood drain out of the back of his head, but she had already had enough, the man was dead. As she departed the house Fiona returned her weapon to its place on her hip. It had taken another life, but not one that held any value to her, even despite her conscious's effort to prove otherwise. The feeling ate away at her insides. It didn't matter that it wasn't her choice, because in the end it was. The vixen had said it herself just the day before.

"I could have just walked away," she whispered to the night sky.

Naugus was a cruel man, but that stemmed from the fact that he took no regards for others or their feelings. Fiona knew that this day would inevitably come, but she had wanted more than anything for it to be on her own terms. Love was just a poor excuse that she could mutter to herself to cover up the maniacal plans of a man she feared.

It was strange; Miles seemed so willing to do all the work for her, to save her from the pain that would likely haunt her for the rest of her life. Fiona knew better though, this was her task and her burden to bear. He hadn't said a word to her since she pulled the trigger. The kit didn't even glance in her direction and she wanted more than anything to thank him for that kindness, but couldn't find the words to do so. There was little doubt in her mind that he had once experienced the same pain and the feelings that went along it. A few moments in the sanctity of one's mind could help make right of almost any wrong.

The vixen inhaled the stench of the city as if it were the freshest air she had ever breathed. With each step she proclaimed herself more sure of her endurance despite the pit that was growing in the bottom of her stomach. Fiona reached for the handle on the passenger side of Tails' car and let herself in. It wasn't long before he joined her, hoping in the driver seat as if nothing of significance had happened. With a turn of his wrist the old beater coughed itself into life.

The vixen quickly found the crank for the window and helped herself to the wind as the car glided down the city streets. The cool night breeze filtered through her hair as she replayed her new memories over and over until they were like a movie she had seen too many times. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the kit reach for the dial on the radio, but she looked away before his gaze could catch hers. Fiona was still ashamed of herself too face him.

* * *

Now Playing - _The Killers: __Runaways_

Lyrics italicized below are not mine.

* * *

The tune was soft and gently teased her ears as the outside air rushed by.

"_Blonde hair __blow'n__ in__ the summer wind. A blue eyed girl playing in the sand,"_ the song began.

There was just enough emotion to draw the vixen's head back into the car. The silence of the atmosphere outside had its appeal, but so too did her company. A long stare at the fox next to her took a while to yield a return, but the small flicker in his eyes told the vixen that he understood.

"_I have been on __her__ trail for a little while,"_ a voice interrupted their wordless exchange.

Fiona let out a small smile. Her whole life she had been on a trail, but she was just never sure where it was taking her. Although she knew if it led her to a seat next to this two tailed fox, there wasn't much that would make her happier. Their car rolled softly down the city streets alone while street lights guided the way. Nothing more than tiny town houses lined the road, their iron bar fences encasing what their residents likely called front yards. She couldn't help but wonder how it would feel to leave her city.

"_But that was the night she broke down and held my hand. __A teenage rush."_

Reaching over, the vixen put her hand top of the kit's as he shifted gears. Finally, the small grin that she had been waiting for appeared on his face. She may have already left her teens behind, but the warmth of his paw under hers still left her with a surge of emotion and it was becoming apparent that he could feel it too.

The old speakers reverberated with a truth, _"__Ain't__ we all__ just runaways, we got time. But t__hat __ain't__ much. "_

It had taken her too long to realize that living for herself wasn't nearly as rewarding as she once thought. With freedom came choice, and the choice to put her trust in someone else. From the night she had met Miles until now, all Fiona had wanted to do was run away with him. As much as she thought it was a selfish childish impulse, there remained an equally indescribable feeling that countered it. Every day seemed more precious, and not doing what she wanted was starting to feel like a waste.

"_We can't wait until tomorrow."_

The vixen had plenty of misfortune in her life, but the one thing she always managed to do was cease the moment. Whenever an opportunity presented itself, she didn't hesitate to leap even if she hadn't looked first.

As the car slowed to a stop Fiona could feel the euphoria of success take over. Finally her life was her own. It could mean something and she could go anywhere and do anything. However, it all felt too good to be true. Her instincts fought her every step of the way as she followed kit into his rundown apartment on the south east side of the city. It was quiet and out of the way just north of the all too familiar city docks.

"_you__go__t__t__a__ know __that __this is real baby, why you __wanna__ fight it?_

Fiona followed the two tailed fox inside; doing her best to ignore the stale musty air within. There was no room for the vixen to judge him seeing as it was more of a home than she ever had. Love was a fickle thing, but it had finally caught up with her. Since her parents had died, she thought the feeling lost on her.

"_It's the one thing you can't choos__e__."_

"Feel free to make yourself at home," Miles said, finally breaking the silence between them.

Fiona however, didn't want to talk. Life was full of choices and this one was easy. Placing a paw on his shoulder, she waited until the kit turned around before pressing her lips to his. His tenseness indicated the vixen had caught him off guard, but soon enough his barriers dropped. It was fun to see who he pretended to be in comparison to the fox that lurked just below the surface. Fiona had seen it more than once that day. Still embracing she pressed him backwards until his back found the decaying drywall. It was only a moment before he fought back, pushing her until a bed snuck up behind her. Fiona made sure to pull him down with her, and together they tumbled onto the mattress. The naïve fox was anything but when his instincts began to show. A deeper darker center formed in his eyes, but it did not scare her.

"_I knew it when I met you. I am not __gonna__ let you runaway."_

As she lay on top of him, Fiona peeled off the kit's combat vest, burying her paws in the fur on his chest. His body shivered at her touch. When she made a move to remove her own top, a look of confusion trumped the instinct and the fox quickly became awash with wide eyes. It didn't matter that she didn't know what she was doing because he didn't either, that much was clear. Tails soon enough found a place to put his own paws, to which the vixen had no complaint. His caress was gentle and set her mind ablaze as she encountered a previously unknown stimulation. All the fox could think about was more.

While he was distracted Fiona found the clasp on Miles' belt, releasing it so his khakis would fall off effortlessly. She watched with amusement as the two tailed fox struggled with words.

"Fi, I have never," he began before she put a finger to his lips.

If he didn't have to admit it was the first time, neither would she. It was better this way. With a new found courage the kit pressed forward, flipping her over so she was underneath. After that it didn't take her long to get lost in the passion. Soon, only their fur separated the two of them as they became tangled in more than just the sheets. Things were slow to start but the vixen was not in a hurry. Her life had been filled with memories she wanted to expel, but this was a moment she would gladly live in for eternity.

"_I knew it when I held you I wasn't letting go."_

When the two foxes were as close as they could be, a warmth filled her that no words could describe. Fiona panted in time with her own heart beat which raced steadily faster with every motion. When it felt like her insides were on fire she couldn't help but whimper with delight. The sensation faded slowly, but the staggering exhilaration remained. Tails continued to kiss her softly, only adding to the ecstasy.

It wasn't much longer before his breathing caught up with hers, peaking right before his eyes widened. The kit nearly collapsed on top of her as his own bliss seemed to separate him from time itself. When gravity set back in Fiona found herself lying on her back next to Miles, mewing softly in his ear as she twirled a finger threw his fur. The vixen couldn't tell if the muscles in her chest were tight, loose or both at the same time.

As the pair lay in silence next to one another, staring at the ceiling, unspoken words were exchanged. The kit pulled her in tight, but didn't say anything. It didn't matter though; she could still hear the words on his breath. _ I love you too, _she replied in her head even if it was all a delusion. Maybe she did stand a better chance on her own, but something told her it would never feel as good as this did. Slowly, her eyes wandered shut as her body merged with the mattress. It was the first time she had fallen asleep on a real bed.

* * *

Sorry I was a day late with this one. Hopefully that won't happen again.

Feed back is appreciated. How are you guys liking this compared to the first? Do you wish anything was different?

Cheers,

M.D


	8. Bullets, Bombs, & SWAT Bots

The soft snores of the vixen next to Tails filled his ears. She had won a battle he never knew was happening until it was over. Everything about Fiona was irresistible to him. The velvet red fox had captured his attention with her sly smirk and good looks. Now it seemed there was no letting go. Just the scent of her alone was intoxicating and her touch nearly rendered him paralyzed. All of his body's senses were conspiring against him, making her his one weakness to which there was no resistance.

As Miles took a step out of bed he had to fight the urge to return to her side. Fiona's aroma had seeped into his fur, making it impossible to remove the vixen from his mind no matter how far he moved away from her. Even the red fox's soft mews beckoned him back to the empty space next to her, but the kit had no intention of disturbing her sleep. Miles had work to do and while he wanted to include her, that was not an option quite yet.

After finding his clothes in the dark, the two tailed fox stumbled outside, doing his best to ignore everything that had just happened. This was precisely why Freedom Fighters were told to avoid getting involved with others. The feelings, let alone the desire, was more than enough to compromise judgment. Fiona had caught him off guard. The vixen had appeared to be emotionally vulnerable having just done something he knew from experience didn't feel right. Tails had done his best to give her the space she needed, but he soon realized it wasn't space that she wanted, it was him. By then it was too late, and the kit was smitten with more than just love.

Miles knew he would have to be back before she woke up, or risk never being forgiven. He had already disappeared on her once, and under less awkward circumstances no less. However, he had never asked for this, not that he would take it back.

His paw found the cold chrome handle on his car, and he gently tugged it open, fighting to muffle the wretched squeak it produced. Even worse was the sputter of the engine as it sparked to life again. All the kit could do was hope the vixen was a heavy sleeper. He had seen her in action enough to know she was dangerous and easily influenced by uncontrollable feelings. No doubt his leaving unannounced would bring them out.

It wasn't long before his car was darting down the tiny streets on the east side of the city. The red fox it seemed was tired enough to remain asleep amidst his midnight escape. The resistance was infamous for operating in the depths of the night, when their enemies ran scared of even the slightest hint of a Mobian presence. Dominion agents and SWAT bots were few and far between in the early hours of the morning, which made defying Kintobor all the easier.

Tails ditched the car in a back alley, unsure if he would even bother returning to the old beater. It was risky enough driving around, and even more so in a car that couldn't outrun a bicycle. As he stepped out into the veil of darkness a pair of headlights pierced the night, pinning his shadow against the wall momentarily. When the kit's vision adjusted and the beams subsided, Miles could make out a small cobalt blue coupe parked even further down the tiny one-way street. If the fox didn't know any better, he was being followed, but not by a copper.

"What's up little cuz?" a familiar voice asked as he opened the passenger door.

"Sonic," Tails answered as he found a seat next to the hedgehog. "I didn't think you would be tagging along for this one."

"Sally said failure wasn't an option, so I got roped in. She is just down the street waiting for us at The Den."

"Sally too?" the kit asked nervously now. "This must be important."

All they had told him was that something needed hacking. Just like always they gave him a time, a place, and not much else. For both of the key members of the Resistance to make a trip to Julian's back yard something big was in the mix.

"You're tell'n me. She wouldn't take no for answer. I even threatened not to go, but she just called me a coward and well… that was that."

The quilled Mobian put his car into gear and began to creep through the streets. Even at such a low speed the exhaust hummed a pretty note that the mechanically inclined kit's ears could appreciate. The car was fast to say the least, but not nearly as fast its operator. Sonic was legendary, a myth if you asked the Dominion, but his speed was very real. The laws of physics simply did not apply to the hedgehog. Miles, let alone Julian and his team scientist, whom were itching to get their hands on him, couldn't even begin to explain it. That however, had little impact on what Sonic was to Tails, and that was his friend.

After winding through back streets in the dim off colored yellow light of the street lamps, the two arrived behind a rundown building. A stairwell disappeared underneath the pavement and into the basement of a decrepit structure. To the untrained eye it was nothing more than a condemned building, however, it was in fact a meeting place for those who preferred anonymity. Sonic parked the car and stepped out into the fresh stench of back alley sewage. Together, the two Mobians walked down the steps and pushed open the door.

The sparsly lit room was littered with small tables and bar that stretched the length of the near wall. Both owners sat at the counter, each named Johny, talking underneath their breaths. They made for odd partners, but at the same time provided resounding proof that humans and Mobians could work together. The small sharp-nosed man was wearing a pinstriped charcoal suit, observing his newest customers with apprehension as he tipped his bowler hat in their direction. Tails returned the gesture with a small salute. The other owner was a lanky raccoon with a pressed white shirt and sliver thin red tie that more closely resembled a fresh gash. His muzzle was well hidden in the shadows amidst the blackened fur on his cheeks. The only discernable feature on his face was the raccoon's glowing eyes.

In the remotest corner, the telltale trace of a silhouette imprinted itself in the darkness. The pointy ears and small shoulders left only so many choices for the Mobian who sat, waiting.

"Sally!" Tails called out loudly in a near childish voice with outstretched arms.

Sally was more than just one of the remaining heirs to the Acorn kingdom, she was also the leader of the Resistance and most importantly, the closest thing the kit had to family. After Tails' parents had been murdered, the then only teenage princess found room for the small fox amidst their refuge in Knothole. She had seen some potential in him and treated him with nothing but the love he would have hopped his own parents would have provided. Now that he was on his own, seeing his older sister was a rare event.

The squirrel turned with a smile to meet his embrace, "And how is my favorite two-tailed fox?"

That was a question not easy to answer given recent events. His mind still had trouble processing exactly how he felt about everything. Every part of him wanted to scream, "Fantastic," but he didn't want them reading into anything.

"As good as I could be," Tails replied knowing it was the full truth and then some.

The three of them found their seats in the darkened corner where there was barely enough light to see the person sitting on the other side of the table.

"Alright, I guess it is about time I filled you guys in," Sally began in a soft whisper.

"I'll say," Sonic replied, making his frustration with being kept in the dark nothing but blunt.

"I have some reliable intel that suggests Kintobor is up to more than just his normal military driven campaign against Mobians. He has his scientist working on some pretty hideous stuff that goes beyond just bullets, bombs and SWAT bots.

Tails had a feeling he already knew what she was talking about. With his new HUD he had hacked into dozens of Dominion controlled systems in his spare time. Kintobor was careful never to refer to anything directly, but the clues were still all there for anyone who was willing to take the time and put the pieces together.

"You mean Roboticization?" the kit asked.

"Yes," she answered looking surprised. "What do you know about it?"

"About as much as you it sounds like."

"Guys, the hedgehog is in the room remember?"

"It's a secret weapons program which sole purpose is to devise a way to enslave the Mobian race," the squirrel answered.

"No way are they making this hog a slave," Sonic answered defiantly as he crossed his arms.

"If they catch you," Tails began, "you wont' have much of a choice."

"If they catch me," the hedgehog repeated as he chuckled to himself.

"Sonic, this is serious. He is still a long ways off, but if he figures this out it means we will be fighting and killing our own kind. Worse is the fact that each Mobian he captures could be every bit as powerful as a SWAT bot."

That seemed to capture his attention. A disheartened look set in as he leaned back listening more closely now.

"This isn't something new either," Tails added. "All the files I have found that reference the project suggest it is almost ten years in the making. He has had one hell of a head start. The only thing working in our favor is some of his lead scientist up and split when they figured out what he was going to be using the research for."

Sally's eyes darted around the room for a moment looking for someone that wasn't there, "Where is Antoine? I thought he was giving you a hand?"

"He couldn't stomach being in this city," Tails replied, "so he bugged out."

The coyote was not a coward, but rather cautious. He had had his fair share of close calls that would have given even the boldest of men pause. The twitchy resistance fighter could always be found looking over his shoulder and jumping at the sight of his own shadow.

Sally sighed, "We are going to need to find you a new partner."

"Speaking of that, did you get the info I sent you?"

"Yes," the squirrel responded slightly concerned, "what about her?"

"Well like you said, I need a new partner."

Both Sonic and Sally looked at each other apprehensively as if they were having a silent debate about who would have to tell him.

"Look little cuz, Sal and I talked about her, but she isn't Freedom Fighter material."

"What?" the two tailed fox almost choked.

"Tails," Sally said in a calming voice. "You know better than this."

It was a hypocritical statement, but he couldn't say that, not to her. Sonic and the princess was no secret, but it went against everything they were trying to tell him right now.

"I need a new partner and she can handle herself. I feel like I should have a say in this."

"You do, but there is no way it's going to be her. She has a history with Naugus and that man cannot be trusted, you know that. Not to mention I don't think she has ever seen a forest, which means she has been raised on the lies that Kintobor has pumped into this city day and night.

That much was true. The vixen had been completely unaware of anything that had happened in the western part of the country until Tails had opened her eyes. While Fiona was no fan of Kintobor's, she lacked the perspective most of the Freedom Fighters had.

"Cut her some slack, none of that is her fault. She only worked with Ixis so she could survive. Fiona is resourceful and as skilled as any of us."

"Cuz," Sonic said as he looked into his eyes. "We don't like to say no to you, but this is too much of a risk, we don't know anything about her. Letting outsiders like her in could destroy everything we have built over the last couple of years."

"Were you guys even reading the same file I was?" Tails asked now slightly irate. "The coppers could never catch her and even the Dominion has a file on her, which puts her ahead of half our agents. She has already pissed off Kintobor's top people, not to mention killed one of them. How is that you guys are not head over heels for her?"

"That's mostly because we know you are," Sally said as she reached her hand across the table, making an attempt to find his.

He pulled back and let out a small growl, "So I can't be happy? That's your reason?"

"Tails, buddy, you know that's not it," his friend replied. "If your heart gets tangled up on this you won't think straight. We can't have that."

It was already too late for that. Tails didn't know how to tell them, but he had a feeling they knew anyway.

"Can't you guys at least meet her first?"

"No," they both replied sternly in unison.

The two of them had taken to being his older siblings, but often times they felt a lot more like overbearing parents.

"But," the kit started before he was cut off by Sally.

"Tails, you need to end this before it goes any further. I can already smell her on you. Just how close are you two exactly?" she asked eying him curiously now.

The ashamed look on his face did him little favors. He had forgotten about the vixen's scent. Every breath he took reminded him of her, but like all things that frequent the senses, it got lost in the monotony of life. It did not however escape his friends.

"Don't worry about it."

"I am worrying about it. This is for your own good, stuff like this can cost you your life, Tails."

That's what they always told him despite their own relationship, and he had believed them too. However, he had never felt as alive as he did when he was with Fiona. There was something about her that brought a fierceness out of him. Tails could always feel it lurking just below the surface looking for a way out. But when he was with her the other part of him danced freely as if there were no consequences or restraints. If he died now, at least he would know what it was like to truly live, but he wanted more.

"Forget I mentioned it."

"We will when you forget her," Sally answered.

There was zero chances of that happening anytime soon, so the kit shifted the subject before he drew anymore flack for his affections of a fox they did not approve of.

"What kind of security are we looking at?"

"It's an older lab in one of the buildings downtown. Standard Dominion security with rotating patrols and surveillance network."

"Then what are we doing wasting our time planning, this will be a cake walk."

"Well that's what I am worried about. If there really is information about robicization here, then it should be better protected. This could be a setup."

"Kintobor isn't that smart, Sal," Sonic began. "You said it yourself, this is an old lab, why bother with the fancy tech and security."

"Let's just hope it's that easy," Tails said as he got back to his feet. "Come on this data won't steel itself and we are running out of nighttime."

His friends didn't know about the red fox who was expecting to find him when she woke up. Every second he spent away from her was one spent risking never seeing Fiona again.

"I'm with my cuz on this one. Talking about it won't make it happen."

"But it will make sure we don't get caught," the squirrel responded in frustration.

"Sal, when was the last time we got caught?" the hedgehog asked as he reached for a high-five with his two tailed friend.

Sally sighed deeply in disgust at their lack of concern and over confidence. Before she joined them, the squirrel put a nice tip on the table. The Den was once of the few places left in the city where a Mobian could safely lay low.

"Thanks, Johnnies," Sonic said as he stepped back out into the city.

Both the human and the raccoon gave a tip of their head to the departing patrons. The Resistance supplied nearly half of their business, while the rest came from corrupt officials looking to meet off the radar. The duo of entrepreneurs were playing a risky game to say the least, but there was somewhat of an unwritten rule that The Den was a necessary evil and was never to be harmed by the Resistance or Dominion alike.

Tails found himself squeezed into the back of Sonic's car, having let Sally take the front seat. The kit wanted to hold so much against them, but he knew they were only looking out for him. Without their help, he would have been a nobody, so the least he could do for now was pretend to heed their advice.

The lab in question was a lonely two blocks away from the Dominion HQ building, which made breaking in all the more risky. Most of the street level windows had been boarded up with plywood, while the entrances were left barred and locked. The three waited patiently behind the tinted glass of Sonic's car for any sign of patrol. However, after nearly a half hour it was becoming obvious this place wasn't even important enough for that, which was not very promising. More security meant more valuable contents within.

The back door was protected by nothing more than a standard keypad lock. Tails had been hacking these things since he was ten. With a claw he popped the cover off and set to work mixing and matching the wires to various parts of the circuit board. The HUD he wore could have walked him through it step by step, but seeing as he was relatively sure he could do it with his eyes closed he opted for the old fashioned way instead. After just a few seconds, the LED light on the panel turned a vibrant green and the deadbolt disengaged. The kit smiled to himself as he motioned for his friends to proceed inside.

The air was weeks old and tasted stale. Layers of dust covered everything from the light fixtures to the floor. No one had been here in what looked like years, but yet so much of the equipment was still viable. That by it self seemed odd, Julian and his government cronies were not so rich that they could afford to leave this type of material behind.

"Look at all of this," Sally said in amazement as she stepped inside from the shadows. "If only we had more time, Rotor would kill for tech like this."

"Come on," Tails responded hastily, "Maybe we can grab some on the way out, but right now we need to get to the mainframe and that will be in the center of the building."

As they filtered out of the small laboratory and into the hallways they quickly realized that the place was more heavily secured than they thought. Infrared light, while invisible to humans was plain as day to most Mobians. A mesh of it bounced around the hallways creating a near invisible fence. Each beam swept side to side in a random pattern making it impossible to predict a path. The only thing that would get them through was speed.

"Sonic, you're up," the fox remarked as he eyed what would have been close to impossible for even him to do.

The hedgehog was stretching out his calves as he tried to make a show out of limbering up. Sonic was famous for craving attention and pined for any ounce he could get.

"Take your time, we aren't in any hurry," Sally said sarcastically as she handed him a PDA loaded with their AI, Nicole.

"Do you see this shit?" he asked as he motioned to the security net. "By all means go ahead if you think you can do this without stretching first."

Tails snickered as he watched Sally role her eyes at the arrogant hedgehog. However, there wasn't much to roll them at. In just the time it took to blink he faded and repapered a few feet away as he bent underneath one of the mobile infrared beams. The process repeated as made his way down the hall, vanishing and materializing a few feet away as he navigated the maze of counter measures. Eventually he disappeared out of site and around a corner, but it wasn't much longer before the security net flickered off and the hallway was once again safe to cross.

"Why do they even bother when they know we can see it?" Tails asked as he and Sally walked down the corridor.

"Well unless we have him and Nicole we still can't get in can we?"

The fox shrugged in response. The panels to turn off this type of security generally weren't on the networks which means it had to be hacked in person just like the key pad at the front door.

Sonic was waiting around the corner, flipping a handheld device into the air.

"Caution," the device complained in a semi feminine robotic voice, "Inertia sensors are detecting non-ideal conditions."

"Sonic!" Sally scolded the hedgehog. "Stop that."

Nicole was invaluable in so many ways. The mysterious AI was in every way as fragile as a life. The computer she lived on was her body, if it died, so too did she.

"Relax Sal, your calculator is fine."

Sonic did not appreciate technology in the least, even if it was there to help him. The only reason he ever bothered dealing with Nicole was so that he could hack through security systems such as this. Once on the local network there wasn't many firewalls she couldn't make short order of. However, accessing the files they were after remotely would raise all types of flags. They would need direct access to the terminal to get what they needed and get out clean.

The glass enclosure in the center of the room was filled with servers that hummed into the silence. Flashing lights pulsated signaling the life that still existed within the computers. With just a few words muttered in Nicole's direction, the lock for the server room disengaged and the three walked in like it hadn't been locked at all.

Tails cracked his knuckles as he sat down in front of the keyboard. Like Sonic, he didn't mind emphasizing his prowess when possible, but on a lesser scale. Login credentials were a joke, there were at least a dozen ways to fake password resets or login with root IDs. In mere seconds the full potential of the workstation was available to him, now all he needed was to find what Sally was after.

"What am I look'n for Sal?" he asked out loud as he poured through the hard drives contents.

"Anything that references something called the inhibitor."

With a few keystrokes, files upon files appeared that references the word. Rather than analyze them all, the kit had every intention of taking his reading to go. The cunning fox produced a small disk from his vest and slid it into the machine and waited patiently for the files to copy. The progress bar crawled across the screen as he downloaded the data.

He had to admit, this seemed too easy, even for an old lab. Nothing felt right. Precious data right out in the open and a direct line to Kintobor's entire network left unguarded seemed too good to be true. There was nothing stopping the kit from pillaging every file on the network, even those in other buildings, and perhaps the Dominion headquarters itself.

With a few more buttons he brought up the switchboard for communications. Tails did not like what he saw.

"Shit, we need to go."

" What is it?" Sally asked.

"They know," he responded hesitantly. "You might have been right, this could have been a trap."

A huge spike in com traffic was visible the second he tapped into the server. Almost every on duty copper and Dominion agent had responded to the distress call, which meant this place was about to get very busy.

"Then lets get move'n," the hedgehog responded hastily.

Tails would have loved to leave, but the files, if they were real, had not completed their download yet.

"I need more time," he called out as he watched the progress bar surpass sixty five percent.

"How much more?" the squirrel asked.

"Thirty seconds."

Rather than waste his time watching a useless object travel across the screen, the kit raced his fingers across the keys as he did everything he could to buy them time. Almost immediately he made every traffic light in the city green, which would ideally create at least a dozen accidents and hopefully distractions for the coppers. Next he dropped every security measure in the building. Automated laser turrets were at the very least painful, if not deadly.

"Done," he said as he ripped the disc out of the computer, "Lets get the hell out of here."

When he turned around he found both Sally and Sonic staring at their newest friend who stood on the other side of the glass wall, a SWAT bot. Its red glowing eyes scanned them, waiting patiently for someone to make a move it did not approve of. With one shot from the cannon strapped to its arms, the glass room they were in would be leveled.

To make things worse, a subtle beep shattered what remained of the quietness between them.

"Please tell me," Sonic begged, "that is not what I think it is."

Tails glanced over his shoulder only to find a brick of C4 strapped to the underside of the terminal he was just working at, its detonator now counting down. How he had missed it when he walked in, he wasn't sure but now they definitely had to move.

"Don't worry," Tails responded, "It's not a big bomb, just a small one."

"Well that warms my heart to hear."

Everyone of them reached for their weapons at the same time. The glass shattered immediately as they plugged round after round into their metallic opponent. It hardly flinched in response as it lined up a shot with its auto cannon. The trio of resistance fighters dove forward, through the shattered glass as the enclosure behind them erupted into flames and shrapnel as both the C4 and SWAT bot decimated the mainframe.

The fox's fingers pulled the trigger on his weapons as fast as they would shoot, but the mech was too well armored to be pierced by such a small caliber weapon. All they had succeeded in doing was pissing it off. With a set of rapid metallic footsteps the robot dashed forward swiping at Sally with a steel fist. The agile squirrel was thankfully quicker than the sluggish SWAT bot, but it didn't fix the fact they were stuck with an enemy they couldn't kill.

Sonic became a blue blur, dashing from one side of the room to the other, confusing the mech's targeting system. The machine strained to aim at something that moved faster than it could turn. When the opening arose the hedgehog tucked himself into a speeding ball, quills raised. Combined with the speed and razors sharp knives on Sonic's back, the bot was turned into nothing more than scrap metal in just a few short seconds.

"Don't act like you're not impressed," he said standing onto of his toppled metallic opponent.

"Not now Sonic," both Sally and Tails screamed at the top of their lungs as they sprinted down the hall for the back door.

The sound of sirens filled the night and things were not looking good. Before they even go to the door the first copper burst through. However, he was probably not expecting a full on tackle from an enraged fox. The kit's momentum sent both him and the man back out into the parking lot behind the building. As they tumbled, Tails struck him with everything he had. His white gloves quickly turned a dark crimson as blood poured out of the copper's nose.

Standing over his incapacitated enemy, the two tailed fox finally took the time to reload his weapons, sliding fresh magazines to each of his TEC-9s. As he turned into the blinding headlights that were approaching quickly from the street Sally stepped along side of him and opened fire. The kit didn't waste anytime joining her as they turned the van into a pincushion. It swerved rabidly back and forth in an effort to evade the shower of lead, but in the end the driver plowed into the adjacent building, horn blaring.

Out of the back stumbled four well armored but disoriented Dominion agents. Tails and Sally continued to suppress their enemy, but the bullets ricocheted off their armor meaninglessly. Sonic joined in as he brandished his MK-43s. The .45s did next to nothing to steel plating, but at the very least it helped keep them cornered in one place as all three advanced on their enemy's position.

Sonic was the first to strike. Right before the copper pulled the trigger on a hefty 12 gauge, the hedgehog evaporated and appeared behind him. The blue blur didn't even have to lift a finger to dispatch his foe. Instead the other two agents opened fire on the Mobian, but hit nothing but their still confused partner. Unlike the Freedom Fighter's handguns, the Dominion agents were packing weapons that could and did turn the man into Swiss cheese.

With one down, it was Tails turn to take them by surprise. With a quick leg sweep he had his oversized opponent on the ground in no time. As the two–tailed fox disarmed his enemy, Sally jumped the third with a tire iron she had procured from the van. The clank it made on his helmet was deafening and near deadly. The man crumpled to the ground as he dropped his rifle.

The last Dominion agent sized up the situation as he began to backpedal away from his fallen comrades. It wasn't long before he felt himself bump into something however, and when he turned around he found what he feared most, a blue hedgehog.

"Nighty night," the spiny creature quipped before bludgeoning him with the bottom of one of pistols.

Tails and Sally raced to Sonic's car, making for the passenger door. When he looked up from the vehicle, it was to Sonic tossing him the keys.

"Treat her nice," the hedgehog requested with a smile. "She is almost as fast as I am."

"Sonic, what are you doing?" Sally begged with longing in her voice as she got inside the coupe. "We need to go."

"Someone is going to have to keep these guys distracted while you two get out of here."

Tails shut the door on the argument, quite literally. Sonic knew what he was doing, and neither of them had time to listen to Sally question the decision because she loved him. It was almost ironic the reason she said he wasn't allowed to work with someone he was interested in reared its ugly head so readily in his favor.

The kit didn't bother adjusting anything and instead turned the key causing the car to roar back to life. The low hum of the exhaust reverberated off the wall behind them, subtly shaking the car. Tails rolled down the window as Sonic approached.

"Sal, I'll see you back at home."

"Sonic, you don't have to…" she started but Tails revved the engine and dumped the clutch causing the car to leap forward in a cloud of blackened tire smoke.

He couldn't stand to hear her fawn over him unaware that it went against everything she had just preached to him. The hedgehog hadn't lied when he said the car was fast. Obviously he was obsessed with speed, but it apparently extended well past how fast he could move his own feet. The heavily modified coupe rocketed through the parking lot as the lights of more copper's cruisers appeared in the rearview mirror.

When he pulled out onto the main street, it was with the back end sliding out as the vehicle tried to keep up with Tails' directions. He smiled to himself when he looked up at all the green traffic lights. Whether it would make things easier or damn near impossible, he wasn't sure, but at the very least it would be fun.

As he reached for third gear, Sonic appeared next to him, barely even breaking a sweat. Tails had to do a double take with the speedometer, which read one hundred and twenty miles per hour. Nothing about his ability to run at such speeds seemed natural even if the fox had seen it a dozen times before.

"Swing up and around the bay while I entertain our new guests," the hedgehog yelled over the pistons firing at fast approaching redline.

The two tailed fox nodded in response before turning the wheel hard and away from Sonic before Sally could speak. Perhaps he would be able to drag at least a few of the cruisers with him to make things easier for his friend. Julian had a habit of prioritizing the hedgehog over the other Freedom Fighters, which is what Sonic was no doubt banking on. The squirrel next to him let out a small yelp as she felt herself reaching for a handhold while the sudden change in direction sent searching for balance.

"What's your problem?" she yelled loudly.

"My problem?" Tails inquired as he braked and down shifted, which caused the car to bark up a loud backfire. "Have you been listening to yourself?"

The green lights were not helping as much as he had hoped. Traffic was inching along as cars moved through intersections apprehensively causing the kit to have to weave in and out of the random smattering of automobiles. With their sirens, the coppers were more than capable of parting the standstill of vehicles and keeping up.

"I am worried about him, I am his friend, aren't you?"

"You love him Sally!" Tails screamed. "Don't even pretend like it's not true. But yet in the same breath you deny me same emotion because you assume I will make the same mistake."

The squirrel was only barley listening as she leaned out of the open window, emptying what was left of her Colt .45's clip at the cruisers behind them.

"Which is why I don't want you figuring out how hard this is," she responded with teary eyes.

The kit bore his teeth in response, that should be his decision not hers. He wanted to be frustrated, but this was neither the time nor the place. In the side mirror Tails watched a speeding hedgehog pull up along one of the copper's cruisers and shoot a few rounds into the front tire. The driver tried his best to keep control of the car, but it swerved too far and collided with a parked car.

"Grab the wheel Sally," the kit barked loudly. Open roads were his only hope of losing them.

With over half his torso out the window, Tails was easily able to line up the shots he needed. His pistols popped to life as they ejected brass shell casings onto the asphalt streets. Enough rounds found the engine block of a bulky SUV to make its engine catch fire, forcing it to drop back.

Even with Sonic's help, the number of cars following them only seemed to increase as they appeared from nearly every side street.

"I am sorry Tails," Sally shouted from inside the car as she swerved side to side.

He knew she wasn't talking about the driving.

"I know this isn't fair, but that is the downside of this life," the squirrel continued.

"One that doesn't seem to apply to you," the two tailed fox hollered back over whistle of the wind and the cracks of gunfire.

Another lump of lead found the soft tire of a copper's cruiser causing it to blow out and flip. The resulting pile up of cars gave them the break they desperately needed. Tails slid back into the driver's seat, shooing Sally out of the way. Tires screeching he found the on ramp for the bay bridge, the longest straight away in the city.

Now that nothing was in front of them he shifted into fourth and planted his foot to the bottom of the floor. The wires holding up the suspension bridge streaked by as the car's speed topped 210 miles per hour. Even despite spending so much time with Sonic, Tails could see a nervous look on Sally's face. Break lights of other cars were nothing more than a haze as they flew by at a speed the two tailed fox had never achieved outside of an aircraft.

By the time they made it across the bridge to the other side of the bay the flashing light of the cruisers were barely visible. Tails flicked a switch on the dash and the car plunged into darkness as every light in and outside of the vehicle went dark. After that it was only a question of finding a quiet place just off the highway so they could watch the coppers drive by. The two tailed fox couldn't help but steal a glance over the river in the direction of his small apartment. He hoped that a certain vixen was still sleeping within despite distant cry of sirens that were chasing him.

"Promise me," Sally said breaking the early morning silence, "that you won't make the same mistake I did."

"No," Tails responded in what he thought might be his first act of defiance towards her. "If you won't have her, that is your loss, but the only thing I am going to promise you is that I won't let you and Sonic stand between me and the person I care about."

The squirrel didn't answer, and he hadn't expected her to. There wasn't a thing she could say to change his mind.

"Here," he said with an outstretched hand, "You probably want this since we nearly died three different times trying to get it."

"Thanks," Sally replied solemnly as she accepted the tiny disc. "Let's hope it was worth it."

The two watched in silence as the hunt for them slowly ended. The iridescent pulsating light slowly disappeared as the copper's retreated in defeat.

"I'll give you a ride back to The Den," the kit said without looking in her direction, "I am sure Sonic will be there.

When he pulled up, the hedgehog was waiting patiently next to the door of the underground sanctuary.

"What took you guys?"

"Half the city is looking for us," Tails responded, "and this car."

"Nothing I am sure you couldn't handle little cuz."

"Sonic," Sally said energetically as she exited the car and ran to him with open arms.

"I am fine Sal," he replied trying to shrug off her concern, "although a lot of those coppers might not be."

The two-tailed fox didn't even bother saying his goodbyes as he disappeared from sight. Just like Fiona, they never saw or heard him leave, but he didn't care. They had everything they wanted and so did he. With a strong jerk, Tails yanked the door open to his old beater, knowing full well it would be the last car the Dominion would try and pull over. It was getting late, or rather less early and with any luck he might make it back before Fiona knew he was gone.

Tails sighed heavily as he opened the door to his apartment. His body ached from exhaustion and stress. The sun was just starting to maneuver its way over the horizon as the kit took off his boots and found the soft bed sheets. Thankfully the velvet red vixen was still curled up in the same spot she had been when he left. The two-tailed fox draped an arm over her side as he closed his eyes. Even if she would be getting up soon, Tails would take any sleep he could get, especially if it was with her at his side.

Sally had told him that he needed to end things with Fiona, and while he normally would have listened to her, he knew there was no letting the fox go. The vixen had already found a way into his heart and he had no intention of removing her. He could feel how much it would hurt to do so, and wanted to spare both of them the pain. The Freedom Fighters would just have to learn to accept his new partner.

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Hello Readers,

Sorry for another delay. I decided to take a vacation last week.

More importantly, I need your feedback on whether these chapters are getting to long and or boring. Would you prefer them be shorter with more action? Or is the current length and content sufficiently entertaining.

Cheers,

M.D


	9. Smoke & Mirrors

This chapter contains a requested Original Character that is not mine. Swift the Hedgehog is property of xXTheRedHedgehogXx.

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Waking up had always been hard for Friona. Sleep, when it found her, never seemed to last long enough to fight off exhaustion and the thought of returning to a life that had long ago lost its luster. Today however, her tail wagged eagerly as the sun bore through the frosted glass windows in Tails' apartment and battered her still closed eyelids. The brightness teased her with the promise of a new day, but her body remained defiant up until a building excitement forced her upright. The fox next to her was fast asleep, but at least he was still there this time.

Stepping gingerly from the bed Fiona found her way around the small studio, retrieving clothes that had been carelessly tossed about the night before. Her emotions felt as if they too were disarray, cast from one side of her mind to the other without warning. Fiona was confident that she could try for the rest of her life, but there would be no forgetting what she had done the day before. For better and worse her decisions left nothing but more questions.

Whether the man deserved it or not didn't make it easier to stomach killing him. To her he was just a thorn in someone else's side. Even if the Dominion had it out for her, they had never caused her any real harm. However, Tails seemed quite pleased about the outcome. Apparently the director was Julian's right hand man and a long time friend. She understood how even small victories could be uplifting, but the vixen couldn't find it within herself to revel in a death found by her own paws.

Looking over at Miles, Fiona recalled the other rash decision she made, the one that she regretted much less. Two firsts in one night was hardly a record, but Fiona was surprised choices of such emotional scale hadn't crippled her. She wanted the fox, that much was true, but never did she realize just how far she was willing to go to make it true. Whether it was a compromised decision or the clearest she had ever been thinking in her life, it made no difference anymore; what was done was done.

As she wondered the small flat, her eyes found the kit's HUD sitting unattended on the dining table. Glancing over her shoulder, Fiona checked to see if the two-tailed fox had woken. She felt guilty just picking them up, but she had so many questions, questions that she couldn't ask him.

The man she had killed had told her that there were still things she didn't know, but she had always known that. Naugus was full secrets. However, if she had learned anything from her time around him, it was that a dyeing man's words were rarely false. _What has Ixis lied__ to me about__,_ the vixen thought as she peered through the crystal glass in front of her eyes.

It still seemed strange that such a tiny device could hold so much information, and stranger still that it could anticipate her thoughts. When she dawned the eyewear, the morning's paper confronted her with grizzly tales of murder in the night. Much of it was her own doing of course, but at least Naugus would be happy. With a few blinks she had diverted herself off on a wild goose chase, investigating a man who no longer existed because of her. If she paused on a thought too long the HUD would shift the flow of information, pulling up data about what ever she was deliberating. It was a never-ending circle of new information. Each fact opened up a dozen more doors, yet she could only go through one at a time.

What could have taken her months of detective work played out right before her in just seconds. Bank documents, crime scene photos, and audio recordings. The secret life of two men was suddenly less secret. The man whom she had most closely regarded as a father was now starting to appear to be the monster she had always been told and knew he was.

Ixis was one of the few private donors who had funded her parent's killer's defense. With just a few well-placed bribes, Nagus made sure the murderer went free. It was more than likely he had helped hide him away too. Suddenly the smile and on Ixis' face the day she showed up at his hotel made sense. Life was hardly more than a game to him. Naugus had lied to her face every single day that she worked for him, all while acting as if he was the only thing keeping her alive and happy.

Making her way into the kitchen, Fiona continued to read the infinite amounts of information available to her. It appeared that nothing more than greed drove the twisted man. Black Markets only did well in times of corruption and war. Naugus sought to fuel the conflict between the Mobians and the humans at every turn, knowing that each would have to turn to him for the more questionable products and services he provided. Helping her parent's murderer was just one more chance to deepen the divide. No doubt he saw adopting Fiona as an unforeseen bonus.

The vixen's ears could make out the sheet rustling as she poked her head through covert after covert.

"You won't find anything," Miles called out grumbling. "Not anything worth eating anyway."

Fiona let out a sigh, she was starting to miss working for a man who made sure she was well fed, even if he was a monster. Her belly growled in complaint as she shut another empty cabinet.

"We can get food on the way," the kit continued as she turned back to face him.

"On the way to what?"

"Remember that job I thought you might like?"

Fiona nodded her head as she took a seat on the mattress next to him.

"Well, that would be today."

"Are you going to give me any clues or is this going to be another 'surprise' too?"

"How well did Ixis pay you?" Miles asked with a smile curling up his muzzle.

"On my first job he handed me a couple thousand, but I never saw money like that again."

"How does a couple hundred thousand sound?"

"What are we doing, robbing a bank?" Fiona asked sarcastically.

"Yes actually, that is exactly what we are doing," the kit yelped through a yawn as he stretched his hands above his head. His eyes were still bloodshot, almost as if he hadn't gotten any sleep at all.

It was becoming difficult to wrap her mind around the life Tails led. There was never a dull moment when he wasn't charging recklessly into the unknown, but perhaps that's what she liked about him. Working for Ixis never felt like it was for a small time operation, but Miles and the Resistance were starting to make him look insignificant by comparison. Their resources and skill vastly outnumbered his, but then again Naugus didn't have an entire government opposing him, just another bad man.

"We can go as soon as I find…"

"These?" Fiona cut him off as she tossed his pants so that they landed squarely on his head.

The kit smiled as he pulled the garment from face. Although something about it didn't sit well with her. Just beneath its surface sat pain that was not there the night before. There was hesitation in all of his words, as if he wanted to push her away, but couldn't bring himself to do it.

"Read anything good?" the kit inquired as he reached for the HUD atop her head.

The vixen nodded as. She did her best to consume as much information as she could be his fingers found the frame of the device.

"What are you reading about him for?" Tails asked as he put the computer on.

"Just curious I guess."

His paw found hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. The gesture was comforting, but it did little to quell the pain that still lurked in the bottom of her now empty stomach.

Fiona tried to ignore the fact that the car had been parked in the opposite direction the night before. If Miles had left, he was certainly smart enough to return, and smarter still for not mentioning it. Part of her wanted to ask, but because the answer was not likely to please her, she let it go.

The city looked different in the morning. A feint haze of morning dew clung to the lower atmosphere as they rolled through the sparsely populated streets. Everything was less tense in the earlier hours. It was not uncommon for her to work late into the nights, and subsequently sleep half the day away. Shadows were few and far between when the sun was in the sky. Darkness, she decided, suited her better.

"If Sonic knew we were stopping here," Tails chuckled as he pulled up to a small silver street cart. "There would be no end to his jealousy."

Fiona watched with a staunch look of amusement as an older portly man underneath a tiny umbrella unseated himself and approached the rusty car. Miles rolled down the window with the hand crank and called out to what she now guessed was a friend.

"Hank," the kit said casually.

"Was wondering when I would be see'n one o you again." Leaning down to peer into the window he continued when he caught site of the second fox in the vehicle, "Mmm looky here Tails got himself a girl, a pretty one too."

The vixen couldn't help but blush. Comments, at least verbal ones, were hard to come by. Long suggestive stares from those passing by were flattering, but in a different way that rubbed her fur in the wrong direction.

"Fiona," she replied.

He waved her off, "I don't like to know the real names of my customers. You look like a Red to me."

_He is half right__,_ she thought.

"What'l it be?" the man asked of the two Mobians.

"Two of the usual," Miles answered as he held out a hundred dollar bill.

"You pay me too damn much," the street vendor replied even as he happily took the money.

The savory smell of a tangy meat wafted through the air when the street cart was opened. Her mouth watered in anticipation of whatever was about to be given to her. However, her expectations were sadly let down when Miles handed her foot long hot dog covered in chili. By no means was it the kind of breakfast she had expected.

"Just try it," the two-tailed fox insisted.

Nervously the vixen took a bite only to find that her fears were unfounded. Something about the classically common food was more than perfect. The bun was soft, the meat moist, and the chili flawlessly spiced. A flavor fusion that was satisfying and filling.

"This is damn near the best thing I have ever eaten," she exclaimed after finally taking a breath.

"They all say that," Hank replied as he crossed him arms and returned to his chair and waved good bye to the two of them.

Tails did his best to shift in-between large bites. He made no effort to keep himself or his car clean in the process. Instead chunks of chili stained anything and everything.

For what seemed like hours they aimlessly roamed the streets, occasionally crossing into her home turf. Just when it felt like she couldn't take staring out the window any longer, the kit turned the car into a parking structure. The high-pitched noise of the wheel bearings going bad echoed obnoxiously off the cement ceiling as they made their way to the roof. Six floors up nothing but the sky was left over their heads.

Just two parking spaces down a red hedgehog and white koala sat on the trunk of a car with their arms crossed. Fiona could only assume that it was no accident they had parked here as well.

"Partners in crime?" she asked motioning to the other Mobians.

"Indeed. We always work in pairs of two. My partner bailed on me, that's where you come in," Tails answered as he exited the vehicle.

There was a lot of tension in the air as the two-tailed fox approached the other Freedom Fighters. The vixen kept her space, following a few steps behind him unsure of what to make of the situation.

"You're late," the hedgehog quipped sharply as he tapped his foot against the side of the vehicle.

Tails glanced at his watch and raised an eyebrow to question the accusation.

"I just assumed that Miles Prower would show up a little early for these types of things."

The koala nodded in agreement as she peered around nervously for any onlookers.

"Swift I presume?" Miles asked of the quilled Mobian with an outstretched hand.

"The one and only," he answered as he shook the fox's hand.

"And you must be Barby?" Tails said turning to the white furred bear.

"A pleasure to meet you Mr. Prower," she answered in a strange accent that Fiona could not place.

"Call me Tails, please."

The kit had told her that all his friends called him that. Yet these two didn't, that seemed odd to her.

"Don't you all know each other already?" she asked out loud while stepping forward.

"Only by reputation it seems," Tails answered. "The resistance has a lot agents that get paired up for all types of missions. I guess we are the most well suited to the task."

"And who might you be?" Swift asked cautiously as he eyed the red fox. "You certainly don't look like a coyote."

"Or an Antoine," Barby added snidely.

"Fiona," the vixen replied bashfully as she reached a hand out to greet them.

Neither seemed to keen on accepting her friendship.

"I had to find a last minute replacement. She is good I promise," the kit insisted.

"If it were anyone but you telling me that, I would already be out of here," the crimson hedgehog answered as he popped the trunk of his car and reached in for a black duffel bag. "I am assuming you have filled her in."

"Not quite," Tails answered as he turned to Fiona. "We are running a standard smoke and mirrors heist.

At least they were talking a language she understood. While she never was afforded the luxury of a partner to use such a tactic, Fiona still knew how the play worked.

"Who's the smoke?"

"We are," the koala answered, "So be quick about it. We are up first for the shooting gallery if things get out of control."

"Then what are we grabbing?" the vixen asked as she turned the two tailed fox.

"Money of course, it's a bank."

Something told her that wasn't the whole truth, but she had learned well enough that it would come out soon enough. The kit enjoyed being mysterious, and she would be lying to herself if she weren't willing to admit that it didn't entertain her.

"What do you say we get this show on the road?" Swift asked, clearly annoyed with how much time they were wasting.

"See you in ten then," Tails answered as he motioned for Fiona to follow him back towards the tiny blue hatchback.

In the back was the fox's very own black duffel bag. She joined him at the edge of the parking garage as they both looked at the building across the street. It was only five stories high, leaving them with a clear view of its roof. More than that she recognized it as one of the few banks on the Upper East Side. The copper's response time would be slower, if they even bothered to show at all.

"Are we really about to do what I think we're about to do?" the vixen asked even though she already knew the answer.

This was Miles she was talking about. The fox knew no boundaries, no matter how improbable the outcome.

"Depends," he began as he pulled a harness of out the bag and handed it to her, "if you thought we are about to zip line onto the top of a bank, then yes."

_Why,_ she asked herself with a smile, _did you leave your boring day job Fi?_

Before she even had herself buckled into the contraption the kit had handed her, the puff of a compressed air gun broke the stillness. The vixen looked on as a spear penetrated the side of the building across the street. Tails quickly pulled out a rivet gun and secured an anchor point on the pillar next to them. In no time at all he had the rope as taught as a steel rod.

"You have done this before, right?"

"Which part?" Fiona asked. "Rob a bank or zip line across capital city in broad day light?"

"Are the answers any different?" Tails asked with a big grin.

She didn't bother feeding his ego. Fiona should have known that he knew perfectly well that she had never done anything quite this extravagant before.

"After you," she motioned.

"Not quite yet, we need to wait."

"Wait for what?"

Miles pointed down to the street below where the other two Mobians were making their way across the street, black duffel bag in tow. Swift tactfully opened the door for his partner, bowing graciously as he motioned for her to go in before him. After they disappeared behind the tinted glass, a burst of gunfire erupted, followed shortly by high-pitched screams.

For all their effort to convince humanity that Mobians were not a threat, Fiona felt this was not helping. However, she had no doubt that whatever they were doing was a part of something bigger than winning hearts and minds.

Without any warning what so ever, the kit clipped himself to the wire and shoved off. The metallic sound of metal sliding over the braided steel wire feded into the distance as Tails streaked across the sky. By now all the attention was being directed to what was going on inside the bank, not above it.

Fiona had never been comfortable with heights, but Miles was depending on her. They worked in pairs, and she was his partner. More than anything she didn't want to let him down. With shaking paws, she clipped her carabineer to the cable and took a long step off the side of the parking structure. The vixen did her best to suppress the high-pitched cries for help welling up inside her as she flew across the city streets. Tails had already pulled himself up to the roof by the time she not so gracefully hit the wall.

The red fox had little doubt that her partner could see the fear in her eyes as he reached for her hand. It wasn't an emotion she liked to show, but was perhaps the hardest to hide.

"Come on," the kit exclaimed, that was the easy part.

_Easy part,_ Fiona thought to herself as she took ahold of his gloved hand. _What's the hard part?_

The roof was sweltering in the afternoon sun. She could make out the ripples of air rising up off the black tar paper creating mirages between her and the cityscape. Tails on the other hand was not concerned with the imaginary images and set to work on prying off one of the vent covers before blindly hopping in. The squeal of the soles of his shoes against the aluminum siding could be hear as he shimmied his way down the air shaft.

"Come on Fi," he called up to her from the depths.

Sighing to herself, she followed him into the vent, doing her best to lower herself slowly. Finding any grip at all on the slippery walls was near impossible. When the vixen's feet hit the bottom, she crouched down to navigate the small space. Tails was already pretty far ahead of her. He did little with his words to impress upon her the tightness of the schedule they were on.

When she caught up to him, the fox was kicking in a grate to one of the ceiling ducts. It gave way and fell to the floor below. However, no one was around to hear it. No doubt they had all been distracted by the alarm and the gunfire in the lobby.

Breaking into a bank, even in the middle of day was not half as hard as she thought. The two of them hopped down into the bank's upper offices. The plush setting seemed reminiscent of the days she spent in Naugus' headquarters. However, what they could hope to accomplish up here was hard to determine. The other two Freedom Fighters in the lobby were the ones taking all the risks.

The velvet red fox wondered the halls aimlessly as she searched for anything of significance. It wasn't long before she stumbled across Miles sitting at a terminal in the corner office.

"I thought you said we were robbing this place?" Fiona nearly screamed as the kit hacked away at the keyboard.

"We are, but that is only a diversion. We are the mirrors remember?"

She wanted to chuckle, the smoke was robbing the vault. The vixen had assumed that her and Tails would be doing that. Whatever this play was, it was bigger than he bothered to tell her.

"A diversion? For what?"

"Julian has a lot of money stashed away to fund his research projects. It's all run through illegal off the book accounts. Tracing them down to their source can be difficult, but very rewarding."

"What about the vault, wouldn't it be in there?"

"Not this money, it's tied up in stocks, bonds, and other types of investments which can only be traded from a select few terminals."

"Let me guess? You just happen to be typing at one right now?"

Tails nodded with a big smirk on his face.

"Where are you transferring it?"

"What does it matter? Anywhere but here will do."

What Fiona would give to frame Ixis for this little heist. He spent his days plotting to put Julian and the Mobians at each others throat, so she felt compelled to return the favor.

"You could put some in Naugus' account," the vixen suggested.

Tails eyes narrowed, "why would I do that?"

"If Kintobor ever bothers to trace the funds…"

The kit chuckled light heartedly, "I like the way you think. A couple million should do just fine."

"A couple million! What kind of damage are you doing?"

"Drained just shy of a billion from one of his accounts, but that is a drop in the bucket to him."

Fiona couldn't even fathom that kind of money. With a few keystrokes the two-tailed fox had robbed the man she loathed most of more money than she could reasonably count. While she was lost in thought Tails had made it look like no one was ever in the office. The terminal and its display were off and not a single paper out of place.

"Try to keep up," the fox said with a smile as he stood there waiting for her in the doorway.

It was hardly fair she decided, as she followed him down the back stairs, that nothing seemed to operate on her time frame anymore. As they reached the bottom floor, Miles reached for one of his TEC-9s. Fiona followed suit , putting a hand on her own pistol, as they walked out into the lobby, which now more closely resembled a war zone. Documents, receipts, and small bills had been flung everywhere while the bulk of the patrons lay on the floor with their hand covering their heads.

One of them however, still caught site of the two-tailed fox. Fiona had forgotten how afraid of him people were. Rationality could and often did take a back seat to fear. A middle aged man got to his feet, sprinting madly for the door.

Tails raised his pistol to the ceiling and let loos several rounds. The noise inside the marble building amplified, and the sound stopped the man in his tracks.

Barby, whom already had her hands full monitoring the rest of the customers, shouted at the now petrified hostage in her foreign accent, "What I say about trying to be a hero, love?"

The guy could do nothing more than whimper as he fell back to his knees.

"Give Swift a hand," the kit commanded as he turned to look at Fiona. "We only have another two minutes at best."

Rather than dally any longer the vixen found herself vaulting over the teller counter and sprinting into the vault.

"How nice of you to join us," the red hedgehog said mockingly as he continued to stuff a trash bag full of cash.

Stacks and stacks of bills sat out for the taking, making it hard for Fiona to get a grip on reality.

"Don't just stand there," Swift barked while tossing a bag full of money at her. "Put this with the others."

It was heavy, almost too heavy for her to carry, but she wasn't going to complain. With a gentle swing she tossed the bag back out into the lobby so it landed amongst the others.

Pulsing blue and red lights flashed through the frosted glass on the windows. It seems the city's coppers had finally decided to show up.

"I was wondering when they were going to arrive," Tails remarked snidely as he strode over and picked up a bag of money. "Swift, time to go."

"Yeah, yeah, one second almost got the last one," came the red hedgehog's response.

The silhouettes of assault rifles and armored coppers pranced across the windows as the Freedom Fighter's enemy enclosed them in a tightening perimeter.

Fiona had assumed that the copper's would have taken their time with so many hostages in play, but perhaps they knew the resistance better than they were willing to admit. Miles had told her plainly that the Freedom Fighters would never harm an innocent person. The media however, told every story but that one. Knowing that there was no risk of captives dying, the coppers came rushing in, guns blazing.

With nothing more than their sidearm and basic armor, the first men through the revolving door were of very little threat. A round to the chest would send them to the floor in world of pain. The two leading the charge were met by a wall of lead from the kit's machine pistol, followed shortly by blast from the Koala's shotgun.

Fiona stood there frozen unsure of what to do or how to help. Tails and Barby had already retreated to the back hallway with most of the money. Swift on the other hand was still in the vault. Picking up the last of the cash from the lobby floor, Fiona followed after her fellow fox.

Just as she reached him, the sound of gunfire once again broke out, engulfing the bank in loud explosions. The coppers had pinned the hedgehog behind the counter as he tried to escape with the last of the cash. Without thinking Fiona tossed her trash bag to Miles.

"What are you doing?" he asked while analyzing the look on her face.

The vixen turned, raising her weapon in the process, and opened fire. The first round clipped an agent in the shoulder sending him to the ground screaming. By the time she fired the third shot, the red fox was the center of attention.

"Come on Fi," Tails shouted from across the room, "don't do this, we need to go."

Fiona had never worked with a partner, but she was pretty sure you were not supposed to leave them behind. The vixen pulled the trigger on her pistol as fast as it would fire, scattering the already confused coppers. With a long lunge, she dove behind the teller's counter where she found Swift reloading.

"What are you doing here?" he asked upset, "I can take care of myself."

If that was the lie he wanted to tell himself, that was one thing, but Fiona didn't see a way for anyone to get out of the predicament he was in.

"Come on," she said with a smile as she slid a new magazine into her Berretta, "I'll cover you."

The hedgehog nodded reluctantly and on the silent count of three the two Mobians rose from their hiding place, littering the entrance of the building with bullets. The coppers that once felt they had the advantage dove for cover as glass shattered and the stone wall turned to rubble. Swift was quick on his feet making for the back entrance, moneybag in hand. Fiona however, felt compelled to take things slower, backing away from her hiding spot as she continued to suppress an enemy that outnumbered her. The coppers quickly realized that they were no long outgunned and emerged from behind the pillars where they were once cowering.

Discharging round after round, she couldn't keep them all at bay herself and the inevitable click of her weapon doing nothing soon shattered her dreams of leaving alive. Fiona found herself alone in the center of the lobby floor holding an empty weapon. At least a dozen agents stared back at her, all down the sights of their guns. Any attempt Tails made to enter the room was immediately greet by gunfire so fierce not even he would risk coming though. Over her shoulder she could see him beckoning her to his side as he whimpered with what looked like tears in his eyes. But surly he had to know that she would never make it there, not breathing anyway.

Defeat was hard to swallow. Her mind raced looking for ways out. She had been trapped like this before and come out just fine. The world slowed down and the noise all faded as the vixen's mind concentrated on what had to be done.

Fiona did her best to ignore the kit's screams, "Fiona, don't!"

It was too late though, her finger had already found the magazine release on her Berretta while her other hand freed a fresh clip from her belt. Before any of the coppers realized what she was doing her gun was locked, loaded and ready for more fun. Dodging bullets was much like performing a ballet, move to the right time and tempo and the performance will continue without incident.

She could still make out Tails shouting, "…I promise you!"

The red fox skipped, slid and ducked between an endless amount of bullets that left her questioning whether or not they were missing on purpose. By the time she had dropped the fourth copper, she had found a pillar of her own to stand behind. When she turned back to look at Miles, the hallway was empty, and where her partners once stood there was now no one. _Did they really leave me here?_

An uncontrollable anger was welling up inside of her. Had she just been some fall girl for their heist? Miles had once promised her that he would never let her go again, and it seemed that he was doubling down on it today. Yet once again he had faded into the ether leaving her to fend for herself when she needed him most.

As the vixen wiped a tear from her eye she let the gun fall from her hand. Even if she tried, she was no longer in a condition to fight. Her emotions had gotten the better of her, not the coppers. Before she could announce her surrender the cold stock of riffle found he forehead and everything went black.

From that point on just mere glimpses of reality graced her senses. The musty stench of worn leather in the back of a copper's cruiser prodded her nose. It seemed all too familiar, but she couldn't quite place why. As she forced her eyes open, even if it was only for a moment, it just long enough to take in the scuffed off white linoleum floors. If her head didn't hurt so damn much she knew that she might actually be able to figure out where she was, but even recollections of the most mundane things were hard to find in her throbbing head.

When the shock wore off and her memory began to surface again, Fiona finally realized where she was. An eerily similar sun bleached desk sat before her, its varnish worn through with years of wear and tear. Papers cluttered its surface and behind it sat a man she hadn't seen in almost a decade. His face was unmistakable, despite the fact that time had been unkind to him. The man's physique had rounded slightly, but he still carried himself proudly. Not many humans had been sympathetic to Fiona, but this one, was at one point, a decent person and perhaps still was.

"I never got a chance to thank you," the fox began calmly, doing her best to ignore where she was. "I really did appreciate everything you did for me."

He smiled, "It's been so long I wasn't sure you would remember me, Fiona."

"There isn't much about that day that I don't remember," she answered.

"I can see that," the former detective replied as he unloaded the magazine from her pistol. "Glad to see you caught up with that guy. Just like I told you, everyone gets what's coming to them at someone point."

The fox was surprised that he was able to recall so many details. Perhaps he was a better detective than she gave him credit for.

"He isn't dead," Fiona responded giggling a little. "But you have no idea how happy he was to see me. At least I managed to take something to remember him by."

"You didn't do half bad for yourself kid," the copper said. "I would have given you a one in a million shot for getting anywhere in life with the hand you got dealt, but you did a hell of job of proving me wrong."

When last she saw this particular detective, it was in the same precinct station sitting in the same chair on the other side of the same desk. The difference now was that he had managed to put a few more stars on his chest and move up a few floors where he could reside in the solitude of his own office.

"I could say the say about you. Captain is it now?"

He nodded, "It is, even despite the nice setback you caused me. Letting a child walk out of here did not sit well with my superiors, but I am glad you did. They would have made a public execution out of you. I am not sure I would have been able to live with myself if that happened."

"So what now?" Fiona asked curiously. "Can I assume they will burn me at the stake this time as well?"

"Hard to say now that you're worth more to them alive than dead. Did you know you have a Dominion file?"

The vixen nodded. She couldn't quite figure out why that was such a big deal to everyone. It was as if she was on Santa's naughty list and everyone wanted to pat her on the back for getting there.

"I am the only person in this building authorized to look at those. I am also probably the only person who knows your real name," the captain said he splayed open a manila folder. "The Red Shadow was a real pain in my ass for years."

"Sorry about that. Not a lot of ways to make a living as fugitive."

"A wrongfully accused fugitive up until you killed the director of the Dominion. I liked you a lot better when you were retired. Why come back now? Why kill him?"

Fiona sighed deeply. That was a good question.

"I changed employers," she responded with a smirk on her face.

"Ixis can't be happy about that. You were half the reason people feared him, including most of my department. The looks on their faces when we dragged you in here with cuffs on your hands; I couldn't tell whether they were happy or scared."

"Even if Naugus isn't upset about me leaving, everyone should still be afraid of him. That man will go to anything lengths to exact what he believes is his. Working for him was just work, working for the Resistance has a little more meaning to it."

A two-tailed fox came to mind as mouthed the words.

The copper frowned , "You work with the Resistance?"

"Do you really think it was a coincidence that I was at the bank the same time they were?"

"Shit," he muttered as he picked up the phone.

"What?" she asked him, now feeling almost as worried as he looked.

"Don't what me. I thought I could trust you, and instead you have been sitting there buying yourself time."

"For what exactly?"

The captain set the phone down as he tried to find the lie in her eyes, "You haven't been working for them long have you?"

"No," she replied. "Why what don't I know?"

"They tend not to leave a man behind, I wanted to call for backup."

"So why didn't you?"

"The phone is already dead."

"Miles," Fiona said softly with a smile on her face, "you kept your promise."

"You work with Miles? Miles Power?" the captain asked now even more upset.

"I did up until you and your gang of merry men brought me here."

"Is there anything else you would like to clue me in on before we all end up dead?"

"I don't think so."

The captain brought his fingers to his closed eyelids and massaged them gently, "I suppose I should just let you go now instead of cleaning up all the blood tomorrow."

"Well I don't have any problems with that."

"I do!" the man screamed. "I let you walk out of here again and my life is over. Julian will find away to kill me right after he has publicly humiliated me and my entire family! Do you have any idea what it's like to have to worry about that?"

Fiona stared at him a few moments, doing her best to convey the fact she had already lived it.

The lights in his office flickered off just as he finished his tirade. No doubt the entire building was now operating in darkness. The foxes thrived in it while their human counterparts wallowed in its black choking grasp.

"Can I at least have my gun back?" she asked. "It wasn't easy to come by."

Fiona watched with her glowing eyes as the old detective loaded the weapon and slid it across the desk in almost the same way Ixis had.

"I suppose I should say thank you again," the vixen said as she retrieved the Berretta.

"Don't mention it," the man replied as he took a container of scotch out from his desk drawer. "Not much I can do now any ways."

She watched as he upended the contents of the bottle into his mouth and leaned back in his chair. Occasionally a stray gunshot would erupt causing the two of them to twitch with anticipation. Neither could be sure who was winning the battle for sure, but judging the types of screams emanating from outside his door, it was not the captain's men.

As she gathered up her gun, the vixen could hear the door open slowly behind her.

"My lucky day," the captain began. "I get to meet both the Red Shadow and Miles Prower."

Fiona turned to find Tails with his weapon trained on the copper.

"Don't worry about him, Miles. He is a friend."

"A friend?"

The man nodded with a faint smile, "I suppose that is what we are."

"Kintobor will skin you alive if he knows you let us out of here without a fight."

"I know," the man replied as he tapped on his chest, revealing a metallic reverberation. "I was hoping you could help me out with that."

Fiona raised her pistol, centering her friend's chest in its sights, but before she could pull the trigger he put his hands up to stop her.

"Hold on!" he chuckled sadly as he reached for the bottle of scotch again, "this is probably going to hurt."

"Like hell," Tails added.

As he slammed the now empty bottle back down onto the table the vixen didn't want to waste any more time. Two brass casings found the floor, along with the captain as his legs buckled beneath him in pain.

"Son of a bitch that hurts," he screamed through clenched fists, "you could have at least warned me."

Before she could respond the kit whisked her out of the room. Fiona squeezed his hand tight, reminding herself that he was still there. Despite his promise she felt compelled to do her part and make sure she couldn't let go. His paw closed even tighter around hers as he led her down the hall, comforting her silent fear. Amongst all the confusion, the smoke and mirrors, Fiona had once again found herself exactly where she wanted to be.

* * *

I am sorry everyone! I got buried in work stuff. Next chapter is right around the corner though.

Please accept my apologies. I am going to do my best to update much more regularly now.

Cheers,

M.D


	10. Broken Promises

As she turned away from him, the feeling of his heart sinking was unmistakable. Everything had gone according to plan up until now. They had robbed Julian of near a billion dollars and were on the verge of escaping with more cash than they could count by hand, but the vixen was more of a team player than he could have anticipated. Somehow that didn't surprise him either. The velvet red fox had whispered in his ear that she was anything but and had only lived her life for herself, yet here she was risking her life for a fellow Mobian she didn't even know.

"Fiona, don't" he yelped powerlessly as he felt both her and a promise slip through his grasp.

Tails could see her intentions. The crimson hedgehog was trapped behind the teller counter, pinned down by the copper's relentless gunfire.

"Come on Fi," the kit called after her in hopes that a second request might deter her from what she was about to do. "Don't do this we need to go."

The words fell on deaf ears as the vixen pressed forward, opening fire on the coppers. He wanted to follower her, to help her, but what could he do now. He looked on as bullet after bullet narrowly missed the fox he loved.

At least she had made it to swift. The two of them would have a better chance of getting out alive if they worked together. When the gunfire sounded again, Miles poked his head out from the hallway only to nearly have it removed. It seemed quite a few of the agents were aware of his position and wanted to keep him there. The only thing he could do was watch as Swift ran towards them carrying the last of the money while Fiona stood out in the open suppressing any of the agents that dared to stand against her.

Whether she had forgotten or simply accepted her fate it was hard to tell. The metallic sound of the Beretta's hammer striking an empty chamber was hard to miss. Miles frantically beckoned her to his side, motioning for her to run, but with no one left to cover her she was stuck. Bullets again tore at his hiding place as he tried desperately to return fire. Stepping out into the lobby would be suicide, and as much as he loved her, there was still more to be done in this world before he could throw his own life away.

The coppers began to close in around her when the realized she was no longer a threat. They would take her prisoner and hand her over to Julian, a fate that someone had yet to escape from. What he did with captured freedom fighters was still unknown, but with what he had learned last night it sounded like they were a necessary ingredient in his research. The sheer torture that would be involved with turning a living, breathing person into a robot was hard to imagine.

The vixen, for a moment, seemed to find peace with the realization that there was nothing anyone could do. That however, only lasted a fleeting second before her instincts took over.

"Fiona, don't!" Tails screamed at the top of his lungs when she saw her reach for a new magazine.

Capital City coppers took no issue with shooting an armed Mobian. It wasn't even paperwork for them. If she just let them take her, there was at least a chance he could rescue her before Julian and the dominion got their hands on her. However, just like all of his previous cries, this one too went unheeded. Out of nowhere she became the fox he had read about, the one that was able to do any and everything, the one that defied odds so insurmountable you wondered if she didn't have someone far more powerful watching over her.

His jaw loosened as he watched in amazement. The vixen danced around the bank as if she could read the minds of the men who were shooting at her. Outside of Sonic, Tails had never seen anyone move so fast. In no time at all she had made it behind a pillar of her own.

It was then that he realized he was crying. Something he swore to himself he would never do. Sally had warned him that this would happen. Involving the ones that you love in his line of work was a recipe for far nothing but bad things.

"Tails!" Swift barked at him, pulling him back to reality. "If we don't get out of here, we will be sharing a cell with her."

The kit knew he was right. Anyone who walked back in that room was dead or worse. The window for their escape was closing fast, and he knew that no one would ever forgive him if he didn't put the mission first.

"Fiona," he called out into the loud cracks of gunfire. "I won't let you go. I promise you!"

Looking back again, he longed to meet her gaze one last time, but he was not so fortunate. In all his life he had never felt as guilty as he did in this moment. He had promised her that he would never let her go again, but yet here he was, without her. Like a child she had pulled out of his hand and disappeared into the crowed. Maybe it was an impossible scenario to free her from, but so many parts of him would have felt better if he had at least tried.

Wiping the water from his eyes he ran down the hall, a bag filled to top with cash in each hand. He was just a few steps behind Barby and Swift. The door to the back alley was unlocked and fortunately for them unattended. The tiny excuse for street was cluttered with dumpsters and cardboard that looked older than him. Their exit lay just a few feet from the door, a door to the underground. From his vest he produced a tool and set to work on wrenching the manhole cover loose. With Swift's help, circular steel plate gave way. Each of them tossed the money in first grimacing slightly as they landed with a mucky splash. Descending the ladder was hard for all of them, but for Tails it wasn't the smell that caused his ears and nose to ruffle, but rather the feeling of defeat . Reluctantly the kit slid manhole cover back into place, eclipsing the sky above just guards rushed around the corner, their footsteps covering ground quickly to make up for their mistake. In their haste to try and capture the Mobians, they had forgotten to cover all of the exits, just like they always did.

The sewers were dark, much like the forefront of Miles' mind. At the very least the shadows hid his still glistening eyes from his comrades. He had seen their looks of pity as they made their escape. No doubt one of the most revered Freedom Fighters shedding a tear would do little good for his image, but that is not what he cared about.

After a couple of minutes in the dark the metallic frame of a ladder came into view. This one however, would not take them to the streets of Capital City but rather the grubby basement of a rundown apartment complex, well out of view of the prying eyes of the coppers. Thus far they had made it out clean, or almost anyway. The stench of the waste water was fresh on all of them, but that was hardly the sensation that nearly had the kit gagging. Every second that passed by was another spent with guilt gnawing ferociously at his insides. If Tails didn't act soon, he would be hollow in no time.

"Fiona," he whispered to himself quietly as he took in his new surroundings.

"I am sorry," Swift began as he let his bag full of cash fall to the ground.

All at once years worth of rage that had never seen the light of the day came pouring out of him. With more strength than he knew he had, the fox slammed the hedgehog into the stone wall. Fiona had done something similar to him once, and he knew first hand that it was not pleasant, but he didn't care.

"You're damn right you are," Tails growled back at him, still holding him against the wall. "What the hell was that?"

"I was fine," Swift gasped as he tried to catch his lost breath.

"My ass you were. You got greedy even though you knew the money was only a distraction."

Admits the yelling, the two-tailed fox was still able to make out the subtle sound of the Koala behind him flicking the safety off on her shotgun.

"She knew what she signed up for, same as us," the hedgehog replied

"No she didn't," the kit replied somberly as he let took his paws of his friend. "No she didn't."

"What do you mean?" Barby asked as she lowered her weapon.

"She isn't Resistance, she is just," he sobbed, "she is just," but the words he wanted wouldn't come out.

Even though he couldn't finish the sentence, somehow he had had a feeling they knew what he wanted to say anyway.

"Then that's on you," the red hedgehog answered as he gently pushed the fox backwards.

"Me?" Tails asked almost hysterically, his tears evaporating as his anger flared again.

Out of the corner of his eye he could se the Koala raising the shotgun again, but the way he felt right now, there wasn't much left to care about.

"How about you?" the kit screamed back. "Do you think you would even be alive right now if it wasn't for her?"

Swift didn't respond. He could have lied and said yes, but he knew just as well as everyone else in the room that if Fiona hadn't done what she did it would be him that was facing the choice of being taken alive or going out with a bang.

"I already said I was sorry," Swift answered more sympathetically now. "What else do you want me to say?"

Sorry wasn't going to cut it, it was a meaningless word thrown around to cover mistakes. How often did Julian say he was sorry in his little press releases? The truth was there were no words that would bring her back, so what difference did it make what Swift said.

"I want you to say 'I will help you'," Tails answered after pondering the question he knew wasn't a real question.

"I will help you?" the red hedgehog repeated hesitantly, as he visibly struggled to see how he could.

"Good, because I will need all the friends I can get. Breaking Fiona out of that precinct won't be easy and we don't have a lot of time."

"Whoa," Barby interjected, "you can't be serious. Walking into a copper station is suicide."

Tails, like every other resistance fighter, knew that. However, he had missed his first chance to prove just how much he cared about Fiona, he wasn't going to pass up on the second.

"How serious would you be if it was him in there right now?" the fox asked as he pointed a gloved finger toward the Mobian he knew to be her boyfriend.

Both Swift and Tails patiently awaited her answer, each curious for different reasons. He had never meant to put her on the spot or test her devotion to the hedgehog, but he needed to put all of this in perspective.

"I – I don't think I would let anything get in the way," the white furred bear answered.

"Then this shouldn't be a surprise to you."

"But we don't even know if she is alive," Swift reasoned. "She didn't look like the type that was going to give up."

"She isn't, but I can assure you that she is still alive," Miles answered as he tapped on his HUD.

The coppers system lit up when someone answered the long standing APB for the red shadow. The once infamous henchman of Ixis Naugus was now in custody, due to answer for her crimes. However, there would only be a small window of time to get her out of there. If they waited too long, the coppers would just hand her over to the Dominion and then there truly would be nothing he could do for her.

"What's your plan?" Swift asked with little reluctance.

Perhaps the hedgehog didn't want to help, but Tails was not going to make it easy for him to say no.

"This is the Upper East Side, the people around here are poor and the coppers poorer still. If there was ever a precinct we were going to be able to get inside, it would be this one. Their security equipment will be shotty at best, and none of them will be expecting what I have in mind."

"Well I am all for taking them by surprise, but I am not walking into a building full of coppers," Barby added.

"You wont have to," the kit replied. "I just need you and Swift to be there to help get us out of there."

"Get you out of there?" the red hedgehog repeated loudly. "With what?"

Tails picked up a bag of money and thrust it in his direction, "Are you telling me you can't buy something with that?"

"Fine," the Koala answered for him, "but you are still going to need one hell of a distraction."

The feeling of grin creeping up the side of his muzzle was a welcome change. The energy that came along with it finally began to ease some of the tension he was feeling.

"I have a plan for that too," the kit responded as he picked up two more of the bags. "Nothing gets people more worked up than money."

"Wait?" Swift asked, "I know you're not just going to give that away after we nearly got killed over it."

"I already told you, this mission was never about this money, and it still isn't. You don't like it, take your cut and walk, but I shouldn't have to tell you that you don't want to run into me again after that."

The hedgehog sighed as he grabbed the handle on the door, "Come on Barby, it can't be too hard to find a car for sale in this neighborhood."

Her fierce eyes were not easily compelled to leave his gaze. Under the pessimism was pity and concern. As much as he hated that, at least she seemed to be able to feel his pain.

Breaking someone out of a secure building was not all that different from robbing a bank. The ideas were almost identical in fact, the only real difference being that money couldn't walk itself out the door or hold a gun. Freeing Fiona would be as easy as giving her the means to free herself. A well timed distraction could easily turn the tables on the coppers. It didn't matter that his plan was crazy, all that he cared about was the promise he broke. If Tails could fix that, then maybe he could live with himself.

Capital City was not a good place for a Freedom Fighter, especially during the day. A fox with two tails stuck out even in a crowed of Mobians. With his senses extending well past his vision he padded along the sidewalk, doing his best to ignore the people who stopped to stare. The kit was famous, but not in a good way, although in some ways that's what he was counting on.

The subways rumbled beneath his feet, the sound of the train's breaks screeching as it floated by on the tracks under the street. Even though he had thought that long ago he had become accustomed to the stench of city, there was always the pleasant reminder of the less traveled areas. The new smells assaulted his nose making him yearn for the forest he grew up in. Even knothole, as remote as it was, was more pleasant that the rat infested hellhole that was Capital City. Yet no matter how hard he tried to forget about it, there was an allure to the ingenuity behind it. Even if you craved quiet, there wasn't a place to find it. Only excitement and mayhem were left, both of which he had become addicted to.

From the top of the rundown building he could make out some of the poorest parts of the city. People shuffled about their almost meaningless lives as if each step they took might get the somewhere. The truth however, was much the same as it was for him, every breath they took only brought them closer to an untimely death.

There were few things in Captical City that were right, but fortunately for the people who lived in the Upper East Side, the weather forecast for the day would be one of them. Sliding a black steel blade from its sheath Tails freed a stack of bills from its wrapper. With a slightly new found hope he watched as the wind took the freshly minted bills from his hand. When it rains, people reach or umbrellas, but when it rains money they praise the sky shouting high and low.

In less than ten minutes the streets had filled with people, screaming, posturing, and fighting for their chance at some of the cash. When all of his bags were empty, the first of what he hoped would be many coppers was showing up at the scene. It would take them hours to sort through all of the commotion, let alone the source of the money. No doubt when they figured out it came from the bank heist they would be charged with retrieving it all.

"I hope you guys are ready," Miles whispered to himself as shielded his eyes from the setting sun.

He had sent his partners in crime to find get away vehicle. By no means an easy task, only complicated by the fact that he wanted them to sit on police department after having just robbed a bank. However, the greater difficulty in this endeavor still lay with him.

The fox's were moving faster now. Tails needed to put as much distance between himself and the spot where he dumped the money. The coppers would be hot on his trail in no time, after all as far as they were concerned he had almost a million dollars in cash, all of which they would no doubt attempt to collect and account for.

As he approached the precinct, the sun was just finishing its final decent. The sky was baked in an orange glaze that wove its way into the glass buildings. Long shadows were now being cast in every direction, finally allowing him to exercise his strengths. Much like the Mobian he was trying to rescue, the kit was invisible in the night. However, it was possible that he was still too late. The Dominion would jump at the chance to get their hands on what they believed to be a member of the Resistance.

The kit brought a finger to the HUD on his face, its contents detailing the latest feed on the police scanners, almost all of which was filled with rioting in the Upper East Side. Thankfully, or at least so he hoped there wasn't anything about prisoner transfers, in fact there wasn't much of anything about Fiona at all.

The station was eerily quiet, but there was little question as to why. The fox chuckled to himself as he thought about all of the coppers it would take to quell what he hoped had turned into a riot. The parking lot was near empty, making it easy for him to move undetected to the rear of the building. Miles let his HUD do the hard work and find his next play. The lenses resting on his nose illuminated a dozen wires flowing in and out of a metal box bolted onto the side of the building.

With a hefty swing, the kit jammed his combat knife into the service box and pried the cover loose. Why they left so many vulnerable wires accessible from the outside he would never know, but at the moment nothing made him happier. According to his HUD just a few slashes he could cut the phone lines, their connection to central, and even the power.

Just like that the hum emanating from the high voltage lines went quiet as the receiving unit sparked. The building plunged into darkness, and his HUDs scanner feed went quiet. A feeling of satisfaction overtook him having so easily taken down part of their network. However, this was the easy part. What he was about to do was the hard part.

The kit calmed himself with several deep breaths as he approached the rusted side door. What lay on the other side was nothing short of a dozen men, armed and trained to hate him and his kind. He was doing his best to suppress Sally's voice in the back of his head. She would never forgive him for what he was about to do. The squirrel had already told him to forget the vixen, but to take things a step further and involve her in a Resistance operation was a huge blow to her authority. To make matters worse, Tails was about to knock down the doors of a copper station all in the name of love. The media would never see it that way. For every copper that ended up in the hospital or worse yet, dead, at least five Mobians would meet the same fate in some type of retaliation. If Kintobor was good at anything, it was proving that he took things personally.

The rusted lock crumbled beneath the thick rubber sole of his boot and the door burst inward. It appeared as if the back door led right into the break room, of which had its fair share occupants all mulling around in the emergency lighting. It was relieving to say the least however, that not one of the coppers seemed to be able to grasp what was going on. All of them looked in his direction, dumb founded and alarmed by the two tailed fox's presence.

The first man to reach for his gun was likely the first to wish he hadn't. In his haste, the man fumbled with the leather strap and before he knew it an enraged fox was standing just inches from him. With a subtle twist agents wrist snapped like a pencil causing the weapon to fall to the floor. With a twirl, the fox flung the man over his shoulder, catapulting him onto table which promptly collapsed beneath the force.

A few coppers had decided that sitting this one out might be the best idea, casually backing away from the Mobian. Others however, seemed determined to prove that they were just as stupid as their friend. With a spinning kick, Tails launched a nearby chair in his enemy's direction. It caught him in the gut sending him into the wall gasping for air.

The counter was near in reach, and atop it sat a freshly brew pot of coffee glowing a bright orange in his HUD. With a well placed toss he thrust it at the coppers, showering them with the scolding liquid. Their screams of pain would only draw more attention, but hopefully at the same time it would put things in perspective for the cronies. He didn't want to have to hurt them, but nothing was going to get between him and Fiona.

As much as he tried, he couldn't stop them all from getting to their weapons. When the first shot rang out, Tails already found himself with a pistol in hand. A stream of brass ejected from his weapon, creating several loud reports. No sane man would stand in his way, especially not after he freed his second weapon and doubled the lead heading in their direction. In no time at all the number of willing fighters hand dramatically diminished, and even those that felt compelled to do battle had retreated to another room, firing blindly over their shoulders as they ran in the other direction.

Rather than relish in his victory, Tails' feet found another hallway. The kit still had no idea where they would be keeping Fiona, and he knew he didn't have a lot of time to figure it out. As he progressed into the building he began to feel the backlash of the coppers. Unfortunately, they had found some bigger guns. His belt was already starting to feel light given the amount of ammo he had already expended. Forcing the coppers back with the growl of his gun was becoming less and less of an option. The stair case to his right however, seemed like it might buy him some more time and hopefully less new friends.

The quarters on the second floor were cramped in comparison to the sprawling hallways and reception areas on the first. Cubicles and offices alike lined every square inch, leaving little room to move. Unlike the floor below, this one had little in the way of lighting besides what managed to trickle through the windows.

The first man to happen on him was not near as ready for combat as he should have been. Had the copper actually been able to see the fox it might have made a difference, but Tails' orange fur slid through the darkness as if it were nothing more than air. With a swift swipe, he disarmed his opponent, relieving the man of the pistol in his outstretched hand. The next strike was a blow to the agent's gut. Still confused from the initial shock he never had enough time to tighten his muscles, which allowed the kit's fist to knock the air clean out him. However, that didn't stop him from calling help in a faded voice.

Being on the order of two feet shorter than almost everyone he fought didn't help. It forced most Mobians to rely on their weapons and years upon years of hand to hand combat experience. Leaping into the air the fox was finally able to look the copper in the eyes while he brought his foot across the man's face. The spectacular kick was hardly for show, but rather leverage against a target that was simply too big for him to dispatch with his fist. When the copper hit the ground he was no longer conscious enough to request assistance from his fellow agents.

Shouts of coordination filled the hallways. The coppers were going to battle for every inch of their home turf, and for that he couldn't blame them. However, their voices were not the ones that concerned him the most. The corner office at the end of the hall had its door shut, but what was readily apparent was the conversation going on behind it. If he didn't know better, he recognized one of the voices.

Gun in hand he slowly twisted the handle until door gave way. A tan tipped velvet red bushy tail stuck out from a chair. The fox's back was to him as she sat conversing with a copper captain. Tails hastened his actions, putting the man in his sites before the man could do anything else.

Looking up into the darkness, the copper locked onto the kit's glowing eyes, "My lucky day, I get to meet both the Red Shadow and Miles Prower."

The candor in his voice was almost disarming, but Tails was not about to let that fool him to letting his guard down.

"Don't worry about him, Miles," Fiona insisted, "he is a friend."

The vixen had insisted on more than one occasion that she didn't have any friends, and to make matters worse the man in question was a high ranking copper.

"A friend?" the two tailed fox nearly snorted in assuming she was being sarcastic.

To his surprise the man donned an amused look, nodding as he spoke, "I suppose that we are."

Tails had run into his fair share of human sympathizers, and nothing ever ended well for them. Julian had long ago made it treason to aid an enemy of the state, foreign or domestic.

"Kintobor will skin you alive if he knows you let us out of here without a fight."

The captain continued nod as he tapped on the armor underneath his uniform, "I know, I was kind of hoping you could help me out with that."

Some friend this man must have been, he had already done Fiona the favor of returning her gun. Tails had offered her anything her heart desired, big or small, but she wouldn't let the flashy Berretta go. Even if she wouldn't tell him why, he understood why it was important to her, he always had.

The vixen put her friend in her sites as she raised the pistol, but the man was quick to wave her off.

"Hold on," he exclaimed through a forced smile as he reached for the bottle of scotch on his desk, "this is probably going to hurt."

Miles had seen plenty of men take a hit, armor or not, they all screamed the same.

"Like hell," he responded, doing his best to warn the man what he was signing up for.

Alcohol was a relatively ineffective duller of pain, but it was better than nothing. When the bottle was empty, the captain slammed it back down onto the table. Almost immediately Fiona put two rounds into his chest, sparing him the anticipation.

"Son of a bitch that hurts. You could have at least warned me," the man yelled as he wriggled on the floor.

The kit would have loved to tell him I told you so, but he felt that message had already been delivered. Besides, there was no time. Tails took hold of Fiona's hand, grasping it firmly as he led her back out of the office. The coppers had made progress in securing the building, and were now doing their best to corner the foxes. However, it would seem that they were unfamiliar with the fact that cornered animals tended not to behave well.

For a moment, they were caught in the beam of a flashlight before ducking behind a desk. An onslaught of bullets followed.

"Can you keep up?" Tails asked.

The grin on Fiona's face almost suggested that she was insulted he had to ask, "The better question is can you?"

Before he could even tell her the plan, she was on her feet, moving and shooting like no one he had ever seen before. He had to pause a moment and watch her fluidness, the way her hips moved as she karaoke stepped her way through a row of cubicles. The coppers tried to shoot back, but they were never going to hit anything they couldn't see. Collecting his jaw and focusing his mind, Tails followed after her.

He was starting to think that Fiona could read his mind. Admittedly he knew that years of this kind of work meant you always knew where every exit was and the best one to use. Tails had slowly grown lazy, letting his HUD do much of his thinking for him. Before he even got the chance, the velvet red fox put a round through the window at the end of the hall, shattering the glass and opening up a path to the fire escape.

Miles could hear the screams of coppers bellowing to one another that the prisoner was getting away. The alley way however, was not any safer than inside. Small arms fire ricocheted off the medal frame of the steps as they ran towards the ground. Freedom was so close, all he needed now was for his friends to hold up their end of the bargain.

His heart raced faster as his boots hit the pavement. An engine roared and tires squealed as a black sedan pulled into view. Bullets filled the night air as he raced to the car in front of him. He could only hope that it was Swift and Barby. The car with tinted windows had pulled up at all too convenient of a time to be anyone else. When the passenger door opened and a white gun wielding Koala stepped out, Tails knew that things were going to be alright. A blast from the bear's shotgun sent the coppers looking for cover.

Fiona reached the car first, wrenching open the door and sliding across the black leather seat. Tails dove in after her and before he could even reach for the handle, the hedgehog already had the car in gear and moving.

Not even in his imagination had freeing Fiona gone so well. Every part of him was ready to die trying to rescue her, yet it seemed as if perhaps they were meant to be together.

Block after block tore by the windows as Swift raced the car through the Upper East Side. To their surprise no lights emerged behind them. Whether the coppers had given up or couldn't keep up none of them cared.

"Thanks," Miles said through his panting.

"Don't mention it," Swift replied as he nodded to him through the rear view mirror. "Besides I think that just about squares me and Fiona up."

"I thought that's what partners were for," the vixen replied reluctantly.

Tails no longer cared what Sonic and Sally had to say on the subject, Fiona was as much a Freedom Fighter as he had ever seen. More than that he owed it to her to follow through on his promise.

"Fiona," Tails said between breaths, "I am going to have to get you back to Knothole, you might be able to help us."

* * *

Hello Everyone. I am sorry it takes me so long to update. I just don't have quite the same drive I used to, but I am going to finish this story.

Encouragement and harsh words alike are welcomed.

Cheers,

M.D


	11. After You

Fiona pressed her back into the soft leather. If she didn't know better she was sitting in one of Ixis' vehicles. The blacked out windows and sedan looked very reminiscent of the ones his 'employees' drove around. However, that was the least of her concern.

"We need to get you to Knothole," Tails began, "I think you could really help us."

The vixen watched as the two Mobians in the front seat exchanged uneasy glances as if they didn't approve of the statement.

"You say that as if you didn't think I could in the first place."

The kit rubbed the back of his head, scratching at the thick patch of fur that sat atop his skull. He looked reluctant to speak, almost as if she had caught him in a lie.

"Sonic and Sally didn't seem to think you could," the two-tailed fox admitted.

Fiona returned the comment with a concerned stare.

"You were too much of a liability for them to consider because you worked so closely with Naugus. Not to mention the fact you grew up here."

"So?" the vixen asked, failing to see the point. "What dose me growing up here have to do with anything? I am still a Mobian aren't I? And I thought you wanted me?"

A look of guilt again washed over the kit's face. Fiona knew she had an unseen power over him, but the vixen was careful when to exercise it. Undermining his authority in front of other members of the Resistance was not her plan, but he was making this personal.

"I do," Tails responded, "Which is why I am taking you to Knothole. I don't care what they think anymore, you're more of an asset than an enemy. You proved that today."

It was cute, she had to admit. After nearly losing her, it seemed that her knight in shining armor was taking it upon himself to keep her safe. It had occurred to Fiona that she could be nothing more than a prize to him, but something in his eyes told her that the kit's feelings were genuine.

"So am I not good enough to for them?" Fiona asked, getting back to the matter at hand.

"It's not that," the fox stuttered as he tried to come up with the right words. "They don't trust you and…"

"And?" the vixen pressed, ignoring the stares from the front street of the car.

"They're worried about how a relationship between you and I might affect my judgment," the two-tailed fox answered with look that reeked of self pity.

"I'll say," Swift quipped.

Both foxes shot him a look so stern he had no choice but to turn his focus back to the road.

Somehow Fiona could see their point. While she hadn't met Sonic or Sally, she gather they likely knew the two-tailed fox at least as well as she did. When Tails wasn't busy showing off for her, he was making decision that even she thought were brash. As much as the vixen loved him for rescuing her, Fiona was confident that she would not have done the same for him. In short, it appeared as if she was killing him.

_Pe__rhaps we are killing each other, _the velvet red fox concluded.

If that was the case, they were doing an excellent job of drawing it out. Their tale was one right out of the story books her father read to her as child. Although somehow she doubted love would trump the forces they were up against.

_Death should be quick like __removing __a Band-Aid_, she mused, _but here we are torturing ourselves with the notion we can make something work__, peeling the bandage off one small bit at a time__. _

"I understand if you want out," Miles said, breaking the freakishly long silence that had been festering inside the car. "It's not too late."

Her characteristic smile crept back up the side of her face. Even despite the pain, Fiona couldn't see a reason to let go. A part of her that was once dead and dormant was now happy. Part of the little girl she used to be had returned, bringing with it the ignorant bliss that only a child could find.

"Not a chance you're going to get rid of me that easy."

"Good," he replied with a grin nearly as big as her own.

Black sedans in addition to blending into the night were more common than yellow cabs on the Upper East Side. That was in part thanks to Ixis, who was building an army to ensure his grasp on the territory that no one else much cared for. His motives were yet to be seen, but the vixen knew him too well to know he wouldn't waste so many resources without seeing at least a tenfold return.

"Drop us off around the corner," the kit commanded.

Fiona was surprised to hear that they would not be traveling further.

"Why so close?"

"Moving around only gives them a chance to catch up with us. If you thought they wanted us after we robbed the bank, they are going to want us even more now. Best to lay low until their search thins out.

The car squealed to a stop beneath a broken street lamp, its absence of light bathing the side walk in darkness. Tails fiddled with his TEC 9s as he checked their actions. Satisfied that they were battle ready he reached for the handle. A rush of midnight air flowed in, bringing with it the Upper East Side's distinct odor.

"C'mon, Fiona," Miles said with an outstretched hand, "No time to dally now."

With a small, nearly invisible sigh, the vixen took a hold of his gloved paw, pulling herself across the supple leather seats. When she reached the edge, the kit puller her to her feet and into his arms. Whether she cared to admit it or not, she felt safe there. Fiona's tail brushed against the car as she wagged it back and forth with glee.

"Until next time," the kit called out to his friends before shutting the door.

The pair promptly drove off into the night, the black sedan slipping effortlessly into the shadows as it faded from both sight and the vixen's mind.

"So what now?" Fiona couldn't help but ask.

She knew of at least a dozen spots to lay low for the night, but the two-tailed fox rarely ever seemed to be short an idea. Even though he hadn't grown up here, Tails' knowledge of the city was on part with hers. Although she had a feeling the fancy tech he wore around might be the reason.

"I was thinking of something a little more comfortable." The kit replied softly as he motioned to a hotel across the street.

It was one of Ixis', and much nicer than the most in the area. However, the thought of running into her former boss didn't sit well with her, not even with Tails at her side. The man was not to be taken lightheartedly, especially given the fact that the car they were just in was likely 'barrowed' from him. If it got back to Naugus that he was robbed by Mobians, Resistance or not, there would be hell to pay.

"Do you think this is safe?" the vixen asked in a tone that conveyed both her fear and concern.

"That's awfully relative don't you think? Nothing about this city is safe."

"For you," she fought back, distinctly recalling the power she once wielded in this neighborhood. "This has always been my home and I have been just fine."

"And your parents?" the kit jibed with no hint of emotion or remorse in his voice.

The words stung, especially coming from him, but he had made his point.

"After you," the vixen replied with a now sullen look. "Besides I am curious to see how you intend on making this work."

They certainly wouldn't be walking into the lobby and asking for a room.

"Ixis is a smart man," Tails began as they crossed the street. "Unlike all the other little shanty inns that line the streets, he uses computers."

"So?"

The kit tapped the computer powered glasses affixed to his face, "There is a vacant room on the eighth floor, will that work?"

Fiona didn't bother answering, it wasn't even a question, just Tails showing off again.

"We're all checked in. I don't know about you, but I could use some sleep."

The emergency exit on the side of the building wasn't much of a problem for two foxes who had been breaking into things their whole lives. In the end they spent more time arguing over how to pick it than they did actually working with any tools.

"Oh stop it sweetie," Fion said calmly as she pushed the two-tailed fox out of the way. "Your fancy picks are no good on locks as crummy as these."

The vixen reached up to her thick curly red hair, removing a bobby pin. They were of little use when it came to taming her hair, but she had yet to meet a lock she couldn't open with one. After just a few twists and turns the lock clicked open, and with it the door.

"After you," the velvet red fox said again, but this time with a small condescending grin on her face.

The kit heaved a sigh of defeat and entered the stairwell. Losing, especially to girls was not something he was used to.

This time of night the halls were devoid of people, but there was still much commotion be overheard. The foxes exchanged lighthearted laughs as they listened to the moaning walls. Together they padded down the hallway, bathed in the cheap yellow tinged light emanating from the overhead fixtures.

When they stopped in front of a door, Fiona could only assume they had arrived at their new and very temporary home. Tails stood patiently tapping his foot, waiting for her to open the door. The lock guarding the room used a key card, meaning her trust worthy bobby pin wouldn't be much help. She was starting to wonder if everything was going to be a competition.

"Just open it," the vixen finally gave in, doing her best to mask the sour taste of defeat.

Miles promptly removed a key card from his vest and swiped it through the door's reader. A light flashed green and the handle gave way to their new abode.

"I suppose we both have our master keys. After you," Tails remarked as the vixen pushed past him.

The room was droll, nothing more than a bed with an off color comforter, dresser, and a tiny window in the far wall.

"It isn't exactly the Ritz," Tails admitted as he locked the door and turned on the lights.

"The Ritz?"

"Never mind," the kit answered with a small role of his eyes.

Like him she was naïve about some things, just not the same things. References and places that existed our side of her city were often lost on red fox. Just having a bed was more than she was used to. They could save the Ritz, whatever it was, for another time.

The allure of the soft mattress drew her in until she collapsed onto its surface, staring up at the ceiling thinking about all the things she didn't want to.

"Three," Fiona muttered to herself. "Three."

"What are we counting?" Tails asked as took a seat next to her.

It was a thought she did her best to suppress, but two more on top of the first didn't make it easy.

"The director," she began not removing her gaze from the top of the room, "he was number one."

"Fi," Miles said in a disapproving tone, "don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Count. You will regret it. It's better just to accept and move on."

"I don't think it's fair to forget that I was the one ended their lives."

"It isn't, but they will just become a number, nothing more, nothing less. And when that number grows large enough you will think of yourself as little more than a monster."

Sound advice, she had little doubt in that. Tails had been doing his job for far longer than she had, but she would not turn a blind eye to those she killed. Even if they only became a number, at least they were still something.

"I suppose you're right," she lied.

The vixen didn't feel like debating the subtitles of decisions she wished she could unmake. The coppers never had it out for her so bad they deserved death. If only they hadn't gotten in the way.

Tails leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips. The taste of fear laden sweat still lingered on his muzzle. It was cut to see how much he worried about her.

_Doesn't he realize I can take care of myself?_

She brought a hand to his cheek and held him in place so that she might return his gesture. There was a small fire in him now and where once the kit was passive, it appeared as if he was no longer.

It had taken some persuasion the night before, but in the end Tails was hers. This time however, it was him doing the persuading. Fiona had known from the start that he wanted her, and the fox was finally starting to show it.

"Grown up are we now?" the vixen joked knowing that she had no more experience than him to speak of.

There was no response, just his a paw creeping down her nape until it found the zipper on her vest. Her breath deepened as he kissed her gently again. Fiona's resistance to him was as near useless as his was to her.

_Why fight what feels right?_

Fiona couldn't remember where she had heard the words, but they felt appropriate, although not enough so to say aloud.

Baring her teeth, she fought back playfully as she pulled the fox down on top of her, rolling the two of them so that she had him pinned to the mattress. The kit struggled to free himself for a moment, but gave in as she began to run her own hand through the thick fur on his chest. The vixen's soothing touch set his mind at ease but only for a few moments.

Having spent most of the day one upping each other, Fiona knew where this was going, but in a strange way welcomed it. In what felt like the blink of an eye, the clothes that remained on her, disappeared into a pile in the corner of the room, only to be joined by Miles' moments later. The warmth of his body against hers felt magnetic, stirring a craving inside her that demanded she pull him closer. Fiona's mind slowly went numb to the blinding hormones that swirled like firestorm. Each point of contact was electric, too much to process, but impossible to live without. All she could do was crave more, and the look in Tails' eye told her there would be no shortage of it.

Finally the feeling she longed for found her again. Each time her body shuttered it felt as if she had died a small death. Lashes of pain too beautiful for words to describe washed over her. The two-tailed fox looked down into the vixen's eyes as her pupils widened. How and when he had ended up switching positions with her was irrelevant now, all she could do was whimper with delight. In each wave of ecstasy her mind ceased to process anything but pleasure.

When the solid memories started to form again, Tails was resting on top of her, whether it was fatigue or his own pleasure that held in place she could not tell. His breathing was deep, but it failed to cover up the whispers of the kit's affection. The weight of his body pressing down on her felt like world often did, but she only wished the world could be as warm.

With one soft final kiss, the kit rolled to her side, cuddling up next to her as he ran a paw through her long red hair. There was so much to be said, but she didn't have the courage or the strength.

_Another day,_ she decided as she closed her eyes, _another day._

When she awoke, it was to the sound of the kit next to her rising from the bed. As Fiona tugged the sheets over face to shield her from the light, she stole a glance at Miles who was staring into the mirror contemplating something. When he turned to look at her, she hid her face, but wagged her tail playfully.

One by one she pulled back on each article of clothing, trying her best to ignore the guilt that each one brought with it.

_What am I becoming__?_

Removing her Berretta from the nightstand, the vixen chamber around and slid it into her holster, readying herself what she hoped would be an uneventful day.

"I owe you one," Fiona proclaimed breaking the silence after realizing she had never thanked him the way she should have.

"You mean you wouldn't have come back for me," the two-tailed fox answered playfully.

She couldn't help but smile, "I am not sure I would have been bat shit crazy enough to pull it off."

"As I recall you didn't exactly just sit there and watch. I think you might have put a hole in a copper or two yourself," Tails replied with a laugh as he turned to face her.

It was true, she had. Although it was not something she was proud of.

_Three,_ she reminded herself.

"Well I couldn't let you have all the fun."

The feint call of a siren brought Miles to the window. Pulling back the curtain he peered outside, but quickly retreated.

"Shit, we got company."

"How much?" Fiona asked as she reached for her gun.

The kit didn't need to respond. The wall exploding as an auto cannon tore through their room was more than sufficient.

Sighing, he answered anyway, "That much."

"Two or three SWAT bots," the vixen inquired, having learned that they more often came in pairs.

"Two by the looks of it and a dozen or so coppers."

"Oh?" the velvet red fox responded sarcastically, "We must be real special to get that kind of attention."

The pitter patter of footsteps emanated from the desolate halls outside their room.

"C'mon, it's time to get out of here."

When the agent's advance stopped outside their door, Tails unleashed his fury. With a kick as hard as any she had ever thrown, the kit flung the door open, knocking the soldiers back into the wall. They were armored from head to foot, but Fiona knew what she had to do. _It's me or them._

Together she and her fellow vulpine painted the hallways red with their blood, relenting only when the men showed no sign of movements. Patrons of all shapes, sizes, and color were drawn to the hallways to check on the source of the gunfire, but they retreated when they saw the pair of Mobians standing over dead Dominion agents.

Without thinking she followed the kit to the end of the hall where they ducked into the staircase. The shouts coming from several floors down reminded her that they were not alone. Leaning over Tails let loose a torrent of brass that pinned the agents beneath the bottom set of stairs. As he moved up, she did her best to cover him, blindly firing rounds in the Dominion's direction as they moved down as many floors as they could.

She couldn't help but think that Miles had a death wish. Looking on, Fiona watched as he dove off the second story railing, rolling as he hit the ground. His claws were in the first agent before they even knew he was there. In their infinite wisdom the remaining coppers turned their compatriot into a pincushion with round after round from their rifles. Tails simply drew his weapon over the man's limp body, not lifting his finger from the trigger until his armored foes slumped to the ground, unmoving.

Fiona caught up with him as he was reloading his weapons. The adrenaline was starting to take control and something she had seldom felt began to climb out from within. With her reflexes sharper now than they had ever been and her inhibitions suppressed, she nodded to her partner so that they might proceed on their journey.

They walked into the lobby of the hotel side by side, guns raised. Unexplainably the vulpine moved in unison, communicating without out words. The connection she felt with the kit was borderline telepathic. Fiona was sharing his pain and his glory, and nothing could have made her happier.

As they neared the center of the room, she pressed her back to his and spun. Focusing, Fiona lined up her shots without a thought or the slightest concern she would miss. When her gun clicked hungrily, reminding her that it needed reloading she paused long enough to survey the damage they had done. Only the two foxes remained.

Out the back door they went without a copper in sight. There were still SWAT bots to worry about, but they wouldn't fit in the back alleys where they were. All they had to do now was get as far away from here as possible. She exchanged a brief smile with kit to remind him as well as herself that everything was still okay.

After the small one way street dumped them back out onto a main road, they bolted for the apartment block at the far end. Both of them had once again proven that love could conquer all. Nothing would take them away from each other, or at least so she thought.

As it turned out it took an entire armored Dominion van to separate them. The engine roared as it closed in, attempting to run them down. Both Fiona and Tails were caught like deer in headlights watching, waiting for the other to react. When they did an invisible force had seen fit to remove their synchronicity, each diving in a different direction to avoid the oncoming vehicle.

It smashed into the brick façade causing the brick wall to crumble beneath the reinforced bumper. The leap Fiona made required a desperate search for balance and a role on the tattered concrete sidewalk before she could come up on her feet. Turning, the vixen found three Dominion agents exiting the van. Raising her weapon, Fiona searched desperately for a soft spot in their armor, but they were closing to fast to center a shot. This was going to turn physical, and quickly.

Lunging at the first enemy, she began to recall just how much of an inconvenience their steel shells could be. Landing an uppercut that found the chin of one of the overgrown coppers did nothing more than piss him off. Backing away, the vixen quickly found herself surrounded by the less than friendly humans.

"Miles!" she yelped both loudly and desperately.

"I need you," the vixen followed up quietly to herself.

It had occurred to her that he could be in as much trouble as she was, or perhaps even worse. Fiona almost laughed when she realized their relationship might be killing the two of them even sooner than she expected. However, the screams coming from the other side of the van sounded human, meaning that Tails was more than likely alive and winning.

With that final thought the world went dark as the agent behind her brought a black satin bag over her head. The vixen's prized Berretta was tossed aside they strong armed her into submission. In her old life Fiona often wondered what it felt like to be on the receiving end of a kidnapping. The vixen could still hear her victim's cries of fear as her world merged with theirs, descending into darkness and despair.

Before she could so much as blindly swing at her captors, strong arms picked her up and whisked away her towards the van. If Fiona fought, the man only squeezed harder, so hard that she was sure if she fought anymore he would break her in half. With no regard for well being the agent heaved her head long into the van, following quickly after her to pin her place on the floor.

"Miles," she screamed at the stop of her lungs.

It was a waste of breath and she knew it. The door to the van was shut and a black shroud over head had sealed her in a prison of solitude. Even if could hear her, there was nothing Tails could do for her now. Fiona's screams turned to whimpers as she choked on her own breath. How could she call herself tough and act like this?

Cold steel hands held her in place as she lashed out desperately, biting at anything that moved. Her ferocity peeked as the van accelerated, tearing her away from the one she loved.

Gunshots rang out as the tires screeched. Bullets could be hear ricocheting uselessly off the armor plating. Miles was too late to help her now.

_I will not go __calmly,_ she swore to herself all the while her claws scraped helplessly across an agents steel armor. But after a closed steel fist found the side of her face, that is just what she did. Blind, bound, and now in severe pain she lay limp in the back of a Dominion van going to who knows where. Defeat was a bitter flavor that was hard to swallow.

"Take it easy, Jake," one of the soldiers exclaimed. "Boss said he wants em in one piece."

"Well the boss didn't nearly have his throat ripped out by the thing did he? Notice how she isn't fighting anymore?"

It was true, the fight in her had dried up as a feeling up hopelessness set in. The same feeling she had the day before when she found herself in the back of a copper's car, hands cuffed and legs bound. And while she wanted to pretend that Miles would be there to save her again, this was the Dominion. They had tracked them down, despite every precaution. Tails had told her stories of all the Mobians that disappeared into the depths of Dominion HQ, never to reemerge. Now she would be joining their forgotten ranks.

"You let go, Miles," she whispered to herself, "you let go."

She had felt his grip slipping as the men pulled her into the truck. Try as he did, Tails was unable to help her no more than she was able to help herself. The coppers were on her quick, and without her Berretta, she was left with nothing more than her fists. However, her opponents all wore armor, the kind that stopped both bullets and bone alike. Perhaps if there had just been one she would have had a chance, but three was too many.

"Jake," an agent spoke again. "This ain't the right one."

"Don't you think I know that!" a voice spat back. "We were already a man down when we secured this one. How many of you wanted to tango with Miles Prower a man down?"

"Still have your panties in a bunch after the other night? Or did he just knock your balls off with that frying pan?" a third man asked.

_Frying pan?_ Fiona thought to herself.

Things were starting to make more sense. This wasn't about the money or her escaping, it was about the director. The same agents that were guarding the house were hunting them down. Perhaps this was as simple as revenge. However, that didn't add up either. If it was vengeance they wanted, she would already be dead.

"I think the boss will make do with Red Shadow," the one whom was called Jake declared plainly. "Don't you?"

No one answered.

"Please," Fiona begged. "Just do it quickly."

The stories about Dominion HQ were not pleasant and the stories about Julian Kintobor made Ixis look like a saint. A quick death would serve her better.

"I wish that I could you worthless rodent, but I have to follow these things called orders. Boss wants you alive, he gets you alive."

Her body shook with fear when the vehicle's engine was cut. They had arrived at their final destination and likely her tomb. One of the men moved to open the door and another prodded her back demanding she exit the van.

"After you," Jake insisted as he kicked her from the vehicle.

* * *

Anyone remember this scene? The stories will overlap a couple more times before things are over. Let me know what you think, for better or worse. I am doing my best to keep this thing moving.

Cheers,

M.D


	12. Heads or Tails

"Call it," the man insisted as he tossed a coin into the air.

After the director had died, they all headed over to Dominion HQ. Julian wasn't due to arrive until the early morning which gave them plenty of time to ponder what he might have to say.

"Heads," Jake answered, having a distinct distaste for anything with a tail, let alone more than one.

Given what Jake had been told about the Resistance he considered himself lucky to be alive. The pair of foxes had seen fit to spare him and the other guards, leaving them nothing more than concussions and a few broken bones. Freedom Fighters were supposed to be ruthless, but the absence of unnecessary death suggested they had a code.

_They will regret leaving me alive,_ Jake thought as he watched the coin tumble side over side through the air.

"Tails," Pete responded as he displayed the coin with a big grin. "Wouldn't want to be you man."

The child in him wanted to kick and scream in protest, but he was a soldier now. Fair was fair even if it wasn't.

"Whatever ," Jake muttered. "It's not that big of a deal. I mean it's still all of our asses on the line here, not just mine."

Everyone in his squad raised an eyebrow, gazing at him as if he was insane. Jake couldn't blame them for it either. Explaining their team's failure to Julian was now his responsibility and this was no ordinary fuckup. The Director had died under their watch. The man was Kintobor's partner in crime and for all anyone knew perhaps his only friend. This was a very big deal, and he knew it.

Pete gave him a pat on the back while wishing him the best, "good luck in there." Nothing about the way it was said was reassuring or even sincerer. All Jake could hear was, "better you than me." Despite being his partner since boot camp, Pete was nothing more than a coworker. Everything they did was just businesses, which made things easier, but hardly memorable. The other two members of his squad however, were useless brutes. They knew how to fight, shoot, and complain and nothing in-between.

When he stepped off the elevator, Jake was greeted with the long walk, or at least what the Director had always called it. The unnecessarily large expanse stretching between the lift and Julian's office allowed for too much self-reflection, now only made worse by the thought an enraged Julian.

In the past he had been nothing more than a personal guard for the Director. Outburst were seldom directed at him, and when they were it was only because he had the misfortune of being in the room rather than actually having done something wrong.

Today however, that was not the case, he had done something wrong. While he could be irate at times, Kintobor was still a reasonable man. All Jake had to do was tell things as they happened and refrain from apologizing. If there was something to be sorry for, then mistakes were made, and Julian did not like mistakes. If however, the circumstances were out of his control, then he had done his best and came up short.

Jake wasn't sure how holding his breath would help, but that's what he always did right before it felt like he was about to be hit nice and hard. The large cherry wood doors loomed, even over him. With a gentle knock and small push, the soon to be scorned Dominion agent let himself into the lavishly furnished office. A bookshelf on the left was filled to the brim with first editions and tomes that the greatest of scholars would envy. Iconic portraits hung on the walls with ornate frames and plaques to commemorate them.

"So you're the one who drew the short straw then," Julian asked without looking up from the work on his desk, scribbling notes as he drew slow deliberate breaths. "Come, sit down."

"Yes, sir."

Julian, to those who didn't know better, was disarming. However, just below the surface lay serpent waiting for the most opportune moment to strike. Jake was trained in the art of combat, not words. This battle was over before it even began. Cautiously, he took his spot opposite the rotund man, never venturing far from the edge of his seat should the need to run arise.

"I am hoping that you can help me," Kintobor began, "because this laughable excuse for a report is worse than the comic section in the Sunday paper. Do any of you know anything about what happened?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then tell me."

"Two Mobians infiltrated the perimeter and incapacitated all of the guard units, leaving the Director unprotected and vulnerable."

"Private, do you think I am stupid?"

"No, sir."

"Then why are reciting to me what is written on this piece of paper?"

Kintobor wanted the truth, but that was hard to provide.

"The two-tailed one, Miles Prower, he hit me with a frying pan, sir."

The large balding man began to chuckle, "Well that's a new one. I take it this is how you were 'incapacitated'?"

Jake swallowed his pride as he nodded.

"What about this other fox, this Red Shadow one?"

"What about them?"

"What's their game in all of this?"

"I am not sure. It appeared as if they were working together. Beyond that would only be speculation."

"Just this once, Private, go ahead and speculate."

"This reeks of Ixis, sir. The Resistance has never been able to find the Director in the past, but Naugus has had it out for him since the incident with his son."

"Very astute, but do you have any proof?"

"Not anything concrete. The Red Shadow is believed to be a known associate of his. Anytime someone important went missing, it was always at the hand of that fox. Not to mention that was the same Mobian who foiled your plan with Naugus' son."

Julian leaned back in his chair pondering deeply, "Yes, I have heard all about Ixis' little pet. Just what I need another fox too smart for their own good. None of them seem to be fighting on my side either."

Jake cleared his throat in response as if to suggest the obvious.

"But I suppose that's because I would sooner kill them," the fat man continued. "There isn't even a damn picture to go with this Red Shadow's file. What good is any of this information?"

"Sir, not many people who have gotten close enough to know more than what you are reading. Anyone who has, suggests it's a vixen, but more than likely this fox is hiding in plain sight, living amongst the general population of Mobians here in the city."

"Enough!" Kintobor bellowed. "I don't need you to remind me of my city's vermin infestation. I read about it in the papers every day. Why don't we move on to why you're here," the man said with a devious smile. "Punishment."

Jake took another deep breath, holding it in, bracing himself for what would likely be career breaking or even worse.

"Which one of you was responsible for this debacle?" Julian asked still without a trace of tone by which to gauge his anger.

It was all of their faults, but that wouldn't work here. Kintobor wanted a name, and he would get one.

"Mine, sir. I engaged Miles Prower in hand-to-hand combat and failed. The death of the director lies in my hands."

"Jake isn't it?"

"Yes, sir."

"Normally when someone such as yourself gets one of my closest allies killed they meet a similar fate. You however, still might have some use left in you. Not many people would own up to what you just did. One man can only do so much, especially when you are working with a bunch of idiots. As best I can tell the others didn't even get a punch in."

This is the part where he stayed silent. Jake had nothing to say to that. He did however have to hold off a smirk that brimmed with self-confidence.

"Private, you will bring me these two Mobians, and you will do it quickly. If you do, I will try to forget this folly and find something more suitable to your talents. If you fail again, well lets just say that isn't an option."

"Yes, sir."

Jake continued to stare back at the man, waiting for more details. However, he had a feeling there wouldn't be anymore. A growing look of frustration began to bubble over on Julian's face as he turned a shade of red that nearly matched his suit.

"Now get out of here before I change my mind!"

Jake turned toward the door, finally letting his breath out. Julian had a loaded gun pressed against his head. He was being kind enough to let him say his prayers before pulling the trigger. And prayers he would need. Finding Miles Prower and the Red Shadow would be the same as asking for lightening to strike them down, it would take a miracle for it to happen.

Having retreated into the halls, the soldier was finally able to let his true emotions out. Beads of sweat began to form on his forehead as he tugged at the seams on his shirt which all of the sudden felt as if it had shrunk.

_This is what I trained for,_ he reminded himself. _I am smarter than a bunch of animals._

His mother's voice still echoed hauntingly inside his head, telling him to stand up straight. The truth however, was that he was not smarter than these animals. The Resistance was filled with a bunch a wile creatures, known for the cunning tactics. Keeping up with them was hard enough, thinking a step ahead was something the people in Strat & Opps couldn't even do.

"So how you gonna do it?" Jake asked himself aloud as he got back into the elevator. "How are you going to find and capture numero three on Kintobor's kill list?"

It was hard to wrap his mind around wanting to find the foxes. Miles Prower was not someone you went looking for, he was someone whom you hoped didn't find you. Jake learned that first hand the other night. Nearly ten years of combat training, and the kit had made him feel worthless despite barely coming past his waist.

The gong of the elevator arriving at his floor brought his attention back into the present. His team was staring at him, waiting for an answer, doing their best to ignore the disheartened look on his face.

"So how bad is it?" one of the men asked as they moved in to surrounded him.

"All we have to do is find them," Jake said with a reassuring positive tone that wasn't going to full anyone but himself.

"Right… Like us lazy ass guard dogs are going to be able to find either of them. Both have been on the Dominion's watch list for years, which means it's going to take us even longer."

Jake let out a small guffaw, "Try a day or two."

"Or what?" one the other soldiers asked.

There was no need to respond to that. Everyone knew what happened when you let Julian down.

"Alright gents," Jake barked at them as he fought his own overwhelming desire to join them in their gloomy states. "Let's suit up and do our jobs."

"Suit up?" How about some sleep?"

"There will be plenty of time for that when you're dead you mope," Pete answered. "And if we don't find these foxes that might be sooner than you like."

Jake had been doing his best to remind himself of that very fact as he followed them to the ready room. Fatigue was slowly conquering him, or at least that is what the dark patches under his eyes were telling him.

_I have certainly looked better,_ the agent mused as he stared at his bruised face in the tiny mirror hanging on the inside of his locker door.

Even with his unusual upbringing under the care of an irate mother, Jake could not ever recall being hit with a frying pan. Granted, the blunt object did its job as well as any other. Reluctantly he ran his hand over the tender black and blue stubble covered skin on his cheek, fighting the urge to wince as he did so.

His body began to recoil as he clipped on the stale smelling armor. Jake's mind was resilient, but his muscles, even despite their strength, did not appear to be so. Most agents went for one of the lighter armor variants, but those did little more than keep bullets out of the body. Jake's armor however would stop even the most potent of rifle rounds in their tracks without even leaving him with a bruise. Of course that kind of protection came at a price, the weight. Then again most men couldn't handle strapping another hundred pounds of gear on their body, but Jake wasn't most men.

As he pulled the helmet over his head the world came to life in an array of lines, metrics, and callouts. The goggles had a built in HUD that relayed every conceivable piece of information to him the moment he needed it. Jake had long considered them a key advantage in their battle with the Resistance fighters. It saddened him to see that none other than Miles Prower had gotten his paws on one.

"As if the fox wasn't deadly enough," he muttered to himself.

Tech aside soldiers were built on resolve, and Jake would go toe to toe in that arena with anyone, even this two-tailed fox.

"Jake," a voice called over his comm. As a metallic hand banged on his helmet, "you ready to go or what?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he grumbled into the radio while reaching for his short stocked G-36. Unlike the rest of his team, Jake preferred accurate, more reliable weapons as opposed to those that made the biggest holes in things. He was already an imposing person, which meant he had nothing to compensate for.

The spry little fox they were after on the other hand, was fond machine pistols, which ordinarily were famous for nothing but jamming. Jake however, had yet to hear of that happening to the kit, but he suspected it may be due to the vulpine's tech savvyness. The weapons were more than likely some custom creation. The fox was a regular old MacGyver, capable of turning an ordinary fire extinguisher into an atomic bomb.

_There is a reason no one goes looking for him, _Jake reminded himself.

The kit's cunning was unpredictable and the list of top tier dominion agents who had met their end at his paws lengthy.

As they walked to the garage, Jake sifted through the leads in their system. The anonymous submissions scrolled across the screen in his goggles. There was no shortage of Mobian sightings given they lived in a city full of them, but there were very few about foxes, and fewer still about any with two tails.

"Let's give the warehouse district across from the docks a try," Jake suggested as he got into the van with his squad mates. "Someone seems to think they saw two foxes leave a small loft in that area."

"Right…." One of them added suggestively, "and I am the president."

Most tips were a joke, so they were not wrong to suspect someone of wasting their time. However, Jake had learned to read through all of the bullshit a long time ago. Anytime someone swore they saw Miles Prower it was only because they wanted to see him, not because he was actually there. The fanatics Julian created with his propaganda were more trouble than they were worth. It was often the most docile and least descript of tips that were the most helpful. Anything that caused a seemingly ordinary citizen to report something to the Dominon was always worth checking out.

The van rumbled along the road as they found an exit ramp amidst the dissipating rush hour traffic. Jake moved uncomfortably in the passenger seat, staring blankly out the window as his HUDD passed him useless details about the surrounding area. The crane in by the docks was nearly a hundred and fifty feet high, but why the device felt compelled to inform him of that he didn't know.

The closer they got to the flat that was described in the tip, the more Jake felt like they might be onto something. His HUD came back with nothing on the place, which means someone had taken the time to wipe the public records for the place. If that wasn't enough, the fact that it was out of the way in an unmonitored part of town only made it twice as suspicious.

After ten minutes of walking the perimeter and peering in the windows, Jake and his fellow squad mates lined up at the door. No one was home, but that didn't mean they couldn't have a look around.

"Don't we need a warrant for this shit?" someone asked over the com.

Ordinary coppers would have, but they were not Ordinary coppers. All they had to do was say it was related to the Resistance and they could do anything they damn well pleased.

"When have we ever needed a warrant?" Jake asked as he kicked in the door with a steel boot.

Regardless of the place not being warm and welcoming, someone had been there recently. The bed's sheets were in disarray and some of the tables and streaks from a hand whipping away a thick layer of dust.

"Well this is a real promising lead," someone called out sarcastically.

Jake ignored the witticism, there was something here and he refused to believe otherwise. Removing a glove he knelt down next to the bed and ran a bare hand across the linens hoping to find a warm spot. Instead he found something even better, several strands of fur. Under normal circumstances that wouldn't have meant much, but not this time.

"They were here," Jake announced quietly, worried the pair of foxes might be listening.

"And how the hell could you possibly know that?"

Holding out his hand, Jake shared his discovery, "As you might recall gentlemen, Miles has orange fur," he began as he plucked at a burnt sienna strand with his free hand. "And the Red Shadow has… well I assume they live up to their name," he continued as he proceeded to select a velvet hair.

No one had much to say other than the obvious, "Now what?"

"Search the place?" Jake suggested as he raised an eyebrow even though he knew no one would see the mocking look through his helmet.

Dominion agents were far from detectives, but it always amazed Jake how little thought most were capable of. The majority let Strat & Ops do the thinking while they did the dirty work. Much like a gun, Dominion agents were brutal and effective as long as they were pointed in the right direction first.

Big men in armored suits were anything but gentle or subtle. In less than 10 minutes they had turned the place inside out. However, their search even despite its thoroughness only turned up a few spare boxes of ammunition and a scrap of paper with numbers scribbled on it. Neither seemed of any importance what so ever.

"I'll say it again. Now what?" the same man as before asked as they reconvened with nothing of significance to speak of.

"We could sit on the place," someone else suggested. "They don't know we found it yet."

It was as good of an idea as any. Retreating to their unmarked van, the agents parked in the shadows of an adjacent warehouse.

"No way they notice us in this big ass armored van right?" Pete quipped. I mean it's not like we're dealing with Miles Prower or anything… ohh wait."

Jake just ignored the banter as he unsuccessfully concentrated on keeping his eyes open. Twenty-four hours had come and gone with no sleep. Exhaustion and an untreated concussion were catching up quickly. For just a moment things faded to grey where time was dull and sounds feint. In his mind he began to restage his brief battle with the kit, trying to decide where he went wrong, but Jake couldn't help but feel outmatched. What was supposed to be a pleasant daydream was turning into a nightmare.

"Hot damn," an excited call cut through his dreamscape, forcing him to open his eyes. "They got one of them."

A flashing APB notice in his HUD detailed the arrest of an all too familiar Red Shadow.

"How in the hell?" Jake asked aloud.

"Who cares, our day just got a lot easier. One rodent down, one to go."

Jake wasn't about to breathe a sigh of relief yet. Even if the ever illusive Red Shadow was in custody, Miles Prower was still on the loose. The two-tailed fox would not make the same mistakes as some city born armature. Catching him now would only be more difficult.

"C'mon boys, let's go collect our prize," Jake responded as his comrade started the van.

The coppers on the Upper East Side could pat themselves on the back all they like for catching the Red Shadow, but anyone with a Dominion File was Dominion property. And while coppers would likely mutter under their breaths as the well armored agents strode in to take away their prisoner, there was nothing they could do about it.

"This time of day we will be stuck in traffic for hours," the driver commented as he struggled to merge back onto the busy streets.

Jake sighed to himself as he leaned back in his seat. Horns blared, echoing into the distance as the sound dissipated into the bay. He found himself slipping away from consciousness until another car horn would inevitable drag him back to the sad reality he was hoping was only a dream.

"I could get out and crawl faster," Jake joked as he looked into the sea of cars that may as well have been parked.

For hours on end their vehicle's breaks screeched a horrible note as they advanced towards the Upper East Side at painstakingly slow speed. When they finally arrived in the parking lot of the precinct, Jake wasn't sure whether he wanted to laugh or cry. There wasn't a single cruiser in the lot and broken glass littered the asphalt. He opted for a strong chuckle as he exited the van.

"Is there any way today could get any worse?" he asked out loud.

"Worse, what do you mean? We got one of them, I don't see how it could be much better."

"No we don't," Jake responded as he pointed to the decimated utility box on the side of the building.

Someone had gone through great lengths to gut all the wires, which explained why Jake's calls to the precinct had gone unanswered. He was hoping to have the prisoner ready for transport, but now it looks as if he would be getting nothing at all.

The coppers on the Upper East Side were fortunate enough to catch the Red Shadow, but now they were unlucky enough to be the one responsible for losing them. This looked like Miles handy work. Few others would have been so bold. The connection between these foxes was very mysterious.

_Why risk your life for a city born Mobian, Miles?"_

As the steel clad agents marched through the still dark halls, it was becoming obvious they hadn't missed the party by much. The streaks of blood on the floors and walls were still fresh and the moans of those injured prevalent. Even the captain himself had taken a few rounds to the chest.

"I was wondering when you boys were going to show up to collect your prize."

"Captain," Jake began as he stood before an aging man attempting to pry away the bullets from his vest. "I believe you had something that belonged to us."

"Ha!" the man shouted as the lump of lead succumbed to his prying and leapt off of his armor and onto the desk. "You would be right. She's all yours if you can find her."

"She?" one of the dominion agents asked clearly surprised at this revelation, while another said, "I told you so," under his breath.

Jake had already put that together. The security footage from the Director's house had finally given them a grainy image of the Red Shadow, and even if you couldn't see her face, it was still pretty obvious it was a she.

"Yes, a sly vixen that Red Shadow is. Good shot too," he added as he pointed to the holes in his uniform just above his heart. "But I thought you lot would have know that."

"Most of just remember two foxes dressed in black, one of which had two tails."

"If you don't mind me asking, Sir, how did you get shot?" Jake inquired as he tried to downplay his squad's ignorance.

"I was questioning her. We have a history of sorts," the captain continued as he pointed to a new clipping that was framed and hung on the adjacent wall. "Everything was fine until that two-tailed fox showed up. I have everyone who can still stand out looking for them, but I am not about to get my hopes up.

Jake eyed the article, doing his best to take in the details as quick as he could. "The whelp that got away," he said quietly to himself. "So this is the Red Shadow."

The fox in the picture looked so familiar, and not to mention young. Part of him felt as if they had met before, but the memory would not surface. It was hard to believe it was one of the vulpine they were after. Much like him she had lost her parents, but in a much more grizzly fashion. Jake almost felt sorry for the Mobian.

"Do you mind?" Jake asked as he went to remove the article from its place on the wall.

"Actually, I do." The captain responded. "I suspect you won't have any trouble finding the article in the media net archives. That copy is sentimental."

The agents all stared at him as if to ask why.

"It reminds me of my failure," he continued, "and I suspect tomorrow's paper will provide another article to join it."

Something about this guy didn't check out. Sure he had been shot, but Jake could easily shot him again and it wouldn't make him any more or less innocent.

"Is it standard protocol to question prisoners in your personal office, Captain?" Jake asked condescendingly as he turned away from the wall.

"You're out of line private. There was no danger of her escaping at the time."

The man out ranked him in title only. This Captain was still just a copper, he held no authority over a Dominion agent.

"And yet she is gone. Not to mention after nearly killing you, some friend that fox must be."

"Who said anything about being friends," the old man replied gruffly. "I said we had a history and thought she could be trusted to behave. I was mistaken, and I certainly don't' need some young fancy badge wearing Dominion agent to tell me as much."

Jake picked up the empty bottle of scotch that sat atop the man's desk, eying him suspiciously.

"A little something to wash down all the pain," he replied.

"This won't sit well over at HQ."

"Does anything we do up here ever? I get the leftovers out of the academy, half my men probably couldn't find their balls if they sat on them, and yet I am supposed to be able to combat Miles Prower? No, this won't sit well with Julian, but at the end of the day he expects me to fail. Does he expect you to fail, Private?"

Jake tried to hide his gulp. This guy was tough as nails.

"You lot can put whatever you want in your report but I doubt it will help you with your situation," the Captain continued as he roused a sly smile. "I wouldn't be wasting my time here while those two foxes are loose. My fault or not, you are the ones that have to catch them."

The room was silent as the agents exchanged looks. He was right, Kintobor wouldn't care that the fox had escaped, only that the four of his Dominion agents failed.

"When I come back here, Captain," Jake began as he tossed the bottle back, "It will be with the fox you lost and I suspect you will owe me a drink."

The old man chuckled as he nodded his head, "Sure thing my boy."

There was somber mood amongst the agents as they returned back to Dominion HQ. They had come so close, but were not any nearer than where they were when they started. Exhaustion was wearing them all thin and if they didn't get some rest soon, there would be no way for them to meet the pair of foxes head to head if ever managed to find them.

Two of his squad mates had already passed out on the break room couches, despite still being in full armor. Jake on the other hand would be remiss to give up so easily. The consequences of failure now hung heavily on the forefront of his mind, keeping sleep well at bay.

"You just need to think like a fox, Jake," the agent said to himself out loud as he stared at a computer terminal, "what would you do if you were him?

The kit was capable of anything and yet he chose to fight a war he could not win. The Mobians were both helplessly outnumbered and outgunned. It was a miracle that their resistance had lasted even this long.

"Why not just run away? There are so many other places in this world that don't have Julian Kintobor presiding over them."

But Jake knew that wasn't going to happen any time soon. As best he could tell this was a personal matter for Miles. The kit's parents had been murdered when he was barely big enough to walk. Jake used to be proud that his father was a part of that mission, especially because it was his last. On the same day both Jake and Tails had each lost a parent, vowing to make the other side pay for their crimes. War was a vicious circle.

"Oh what does it even matter, this fox will do the last thing I expect him to do anyway."

It then dawned on the agent that that was perhaps where he should start.

Hours ticked by with little progress. Every avenue of trying to track the foxes by any electron means was futile. There was simply nothing to speak of. However, that wasn't exactly surprising, Miles Prower wasn't the type of Mobian to slip and leave a clue big enough for someone like him to find.

"Jake," Pete called out as he entered the room. "Give it a rest. How long have you been at this?"

"What difference does it make?"

"Don't take it so hard."

"Take it hard?" Jake snorted back at his partner. "In a day or two we won't have much of a choice."

Pete grimaced when he realized the time table they were working against.

"Anything I can do to help?" the agent asked reluctantly.

Jake leaned back in his chair, contemplating. It was fast approaching zero six hundred. Perhaps a fresher brain would be useful.

"If you were running away with a girl," Jake began, "and you didn't want someone to find you, what would you do?"

Since their chat with the Captain, Jake had become more and more convinced that the relationship between these foxes went beyond a working one. Miles Prower wouldn't stick his neck out for just anyone, let alone take them along on his bank heist. She was someone special to him, and now he was trying to protect her.

"Are you serious?" the man asked before continuing anyway. "I would travel by night, only use cash, stay at dingy motels, never touch a phone or computer, and do my best not to look myself."

"Perfect," Jake answered as he pecked away at the key on his terminal. "So you would travel during the day, check into a modest hotel, possibly using a credit card, wouldn't be afraid to use your computer, and wouldn't mind flaunting your two tails, if you had them of course."

"What? Were you even listening? That's not at all what I said."

"I know," Jake replied as he filtered through his search results. "The fox never does what any of us would do, so why not start with the opposite of what we would do."

"Because," the agent replied frantically, "not even he is that audacious, Jake. And what could possibly make you think he is running away with the Red Shadow."

"Call it a hunch."

"I know it sounds like they are perfect for each other, but just because they are both criminals and foxes doesn't mean they are in love with one another."

Jake ignored him as he continued to stare quietly at his screen until the unfathomable jumped out at him. A solitary row of nothing.

"Holy shit," he muttered to the man sitting next to him, pointing frantically at the screen, "check this out."

Pete peered over his shoulder reluctantly to view the details on this computer, or rather the lack there of. Miles was good at leaving a trail of nothing, but at it turns out, nothing could be found as long as it was amongst something. The hotel check in record was conspicuously absent of a lot of key details. There was no name, no payment information, no reservation, and to top things off no one had ever printed a key for the room. However, it was listed as occupied and had been accessed almost eight hours ago. This had a certain two-tailed fox's name written all over it.

"Christ, Jake," a now much more excited agent screamed as he slapped him on the back. "I think you might have found him."

"We need to move quickly though, they won't stay there much longer."

"I'll get the Captain from the Upper East Side on the line. He should be looking for a chance to redeem himself. With any luck they should be able to have that place surrounded by the time we get there," the man said frantically as he headed for the door.

"Tell him to keep things quiet until we get there. I don't want them knocking on any doors without us," Jake insisted as he ran after him. "We don't want to startle those foxes. Animals behave irrationally when they are backed into a corner and they are not qualified to handle them."

"Neither are we. I'll get dispatch to deliver some SWAT bots to help even the odds a bit."

If they were lucky, the foxes would still be there. Neither Miles Prower nor this Red Shadow were likely to go quietly, which would make capturing them alive rather difficult. Perhaps if they could be taken by surprise, things would go better.

As he stumbled down the hallway, Jake struggled to fight the compulsion to sleep. Haphazardly, he tightened the straps on his armor as he roused his comrades.

"Get up you lazy asses! There is work to be done."

With some grumbling the agents arose, sensing the heightened urgency in his voice.

There was no time for questions, just action, and before he could waste any more energy forming useless memories, Jake found himself once again in the front of their squad's van.

"God damn it," Pete screamed, "You drive like an old woman. Move!"

Jake had thought they were going plenty fast before, but the switch in operators was very noticeable. The W12 roared as the tachometer raced towards the red line. Armored vehicles often lumbered about slowly, their wayward weight being thrown carelessly from side to side. The Dominion however, was not so careless. Everything they owned was top notch.

Cars hurriedly removed themselves from their warpath. Pete was more than willing to trade paint with any vehicle in their way. Time was of the essence, and there was no reason to waste any of it.

Jake hastily patched himself into the Upper East Side's recently restored com network to monitor their progress. Dispatch calls were frequent with position updates, all of which were converging on the hotel in question. Everything was looking good until it wasn't.

"Unit 87, silent approach only!" someone yelled as the wail of a siren could be heard in the background.

"Shit," Jake mumbled, "I swear if those idiots just blew this…"

Pete didn't respond, instead he concentrated on the road as they rounded a corner, tires screeching in agony.

"Targets spotted," came over the radio. "They are aware of our presence."

"Open fire," someone else ordered as the unmistakable sound of a SWAT bot auto cannon could be heard even from where they were in the city.

"Stand down," Jake shouted into the radio. "This is Dominion team Foxtrot, stand down immediately."

No one responded to or headed his request.

"Breach team one in position," another officer commented.

"Damn it, I said stand down! Wait for my go ahead!"

It was useless, they pressed forward anyway, but paid the price.

"Breach team one, what is your status?"

No response.

"Breach team one?"

Still no response.

"Hostiles engaged, south stairwell. Requesting back up."

"Idiots," Jake swore, "They for the second time, will cost us getting our hands on these foxes."

"We are almost there. Perhaps they can distract them for long enough."

"Yeah just long enough so we can wave goodbye."

"Officers down, I repeat officers down," someone yelled over the com before another requested a status report.

"All teams report in,"

No response.

"Shit," Pete swore this time, "that didn't go well."

"Look!" Jake screamed as he pointed his finger towards two Mobians as they bolted down the sidewalk a block away, "that's them right there."

Pete did the unthinkable. Rather than slowdown, he planted his foot all the way to the floor, doing his best to run them down. Throwing his hands up, Jake braced for what was looking like a painful impact.

Metal screeched as their van tore through a wall, nearly collapsing half of the building. His adrenalin had long been pumping, sending shockwaves of energy through his body that frayed his nerves and made him twitch with anticipation. No longer was fatigue an issue.

Jake leapt from the car weapon in hand as he advanced on a dazed vixen. The fox struggled upright, centering him in her sites so that he found himself staring down the business end of a Berretta. However, there wasn't much she could do with it, any shot she took would barely tickle him.

"Miles," the velvet fox screamed loudly, desperate for the assistance of the two-tailed fox who was battling Pete on the other side of the van.

The Red Shadow, now looking more scared than fearsome. Slowly, she backed away and into the waiting arms of another agent who had circled around behind her. Together, they stuck quickly, knocking the gun from her hand as they brought a black shroud over her head. Now surrounded in darkness, the fox lashed out with razor sharp claws, threatening to tear anything she touched to pieces.

Jake moved in, wrapped his arms around the vixen, and squeezed as hard as he could. At first she fought, but inevitably her resistance faded and she went limp as she searched for her breath. Satisfied that the fox was sufficiently incapacitated he lifted her off the ground and heaved her into the back of their van, making sure to follower after his prize.

Pete's screams had long since faded, leaving Jake and his team little doubt who had prevailed in his battle against Miles Prower. It had taken all three of them just to catch The Red Shadow.

When he looked up, Jake saw a world of fury in the kit's eyes as he reached out to catch the door Jake was closing on him. Thankfully however, the fox was too late. The pounds of his fist could be heard on the armored steel siding as someone else started the engine.

"Miles," the vixen screamed again in a tone that longed for the comfort of a love lost.

The only reply was bullets ricocheting uselessly off their vehicle's armor as they pulled away. A yelp that infused with emotion gave Jake the satisfaction of being right. She didn't just want help, she wanted him to be there with her.

The look in the kit's eyes just before he shut the door was filled with a rage so singular that it could have only been driven by love. _The great and mighty Miles Prower does have a weakness,_ he thought, _and now we have it in our hands._

The Red Shadow however, had not yet given up completely in her fight. In the blink of an eye a pair of claws nearly rent his armor open just below his chin. Half driven by fear, Jake swung his fist into the side of her muzzle, hoping that a nice dose of pain would convince her to settle down.

"Take it easy, Jake," someone suggested. "Boss said he wants em in one piece."

"Well the boss didn't nearly have his throat ripped out by the thing did he? You might also notice how she isn't fighting anymore?"

After a few more moments, the same agent spoke again, "Jake, that aint the right one."

"Don't you think I know that!" he answered hastily. "We were already a man down when we secured this one. How many of you wanted to tango with Miles Prower a man down?"

They hadn't seen what he had seen either. The loss of a loved one was a powerful motivator; Jake had no intention of crossing the kit with what he thought could only be the eyes of death staring back at him.

"Still have your panties in a bunch after the other night? Or did he just knock your balls off with that frying pan?" the third man asked.

Jake didn't enjoy being called a coward. Were they not aware that Pete was no longer with them, and more than likely dead or dying in the street? At least this way they didn't come back empty handed. Had they stayed and fought, they might not be going back at all.

"I think the boss will make do with Red Shadow, don't you?"

No one cared to answer that question

"Please," the fox beneath his boot begged. "Just do it quickly."

"I wish that I could you worthless rodent," Jake spat at her, "but I have to follow these things called orders. Boss wants you alive, he gets you alive."

HQ couldn't have arrived any quicker and the sight of its dreary manila walls excite him more. With a hefty pull, Jake flung open the vans back door as he kicked his prisoner out onto the garage floor.

"After you," he said mockingly as he jumped down next to her.

The Mobian rolled around in the dirt clutching her side in pain. Any sympathy he had for her had run out the moment her partner decided to kill one of his squad mates.

"Get up," he commanded with an authority so profound he scared himself.

The fox obeyed without question, returning to her feet despite a flurry of shivers than ran the course of her body. At the very least he had succeeded in breaking her. The vixen's posture reeked of defeat, her shoulders sunk as she staggered her breaths. Pushing her with as little remorse as he could muster, Jake guided her to the elevators. The others would sooner throw her in a cell and call it a day, but he felt the need to show Julian what he had found.

With a smug grin on his face, the agent marched her down the long walk, noting how much shorter it seemed with good news in hand. Julian's secretary made a move to stop him, but a woman who was half his size wasn't difficult to ignore.

The large cherry wood doors gave way to villain's sanctum, and Jake proudly displayed his prisoner as he marched her through the threshold. The man appeared to be annoyed at the unannounced interruption, looking up halfheartedly from the work on his computer screen. Kintobor was well known for being able to remove any and every smile that shared the same space as him. He passed over the fox with his gaze as if she wasn't even there, instead settling on him with a gaze made of icicles.

"Sir, I think I found something you will like," Jake said plainly, ditching the smirk all together.

Kintobor reluctantly removed himself from his desk as he walked around to where Jake and the fox stood, sizing the two of them up as if to gauge their worth.

"You are aware, Private, that this fox only has one tail are you not?"

"Yes, sir. But…"

There was no question that Kintobor was a smart man. However, from time to time details could escape him. The Red Shadow was nothing more than a name in a file to him. Without a picture he was left with little more than his presumptions.

"And if I am not mistaken, which I seldom am, this is a vixen, meaning that she is of the feminine sex. Now if my memory serves me well, which it often does, Miles Prower is not a bitch, is he?"

"No, sir. But…"

"It would appear that you have failed me for your last time, Private."

"Sir, it's the Red Shadow."

Julian paused a moment as he traded glances between the velvet red fox and Jake, hoping that one of them would clarify.

"This," he said in disbelief, "is Ixis' pet fox?"

Jake nodded.

"Ohhh how very interesting. Not quite what I was expecting."

"She isn't Resistance, just some city born low life."

"Then what was she doing working with the Resistance?"

"I thought you would like to ask her yourself, Sir."

* * *

Sorry for another long delay everyone. And sorry again for an OC dominated chapter that is entirely to long. If you're new to this story Jake is a character that is well established from the story I wrote before this. While this is a prequel, it is meant to be read after the other.

I like writing both sides of the story, so hopefully none of you find it too boring. This will probably be the only chapter like this in the entire story. It just kept getting longer and longer. Again, my apologies. Reviews, positive or negative, are welcomed.

Cheers,

M.D


	13. Where the Heart Is

An ethereal feeling set in as he fell to his knees. Loss, despair, and guilt all seemed to swirl into a mixture bent on overwhelming him. Through teary eyes, Tails watched as the Dominion van drove away, taking with it the vixen he adored. In his hand remained her now empty Berretta, a small stream of smoke emanating from the barrel. The rage building inside the kit demanded he throw the weapon in frustration, but it was the only thing of hers the remained. To throw it, would be discard her all together.

"No," he said in a feint whisper of disbelief.

He couldn't come to grips with the fact that she was gone.

"No! Julian! Not her…" he said screamed at the sky as he fought off tears.

"Julian," the kit snarled as loud as his voice would allow, forcing a growl so fierce that it even scared him. "You're a dead man! You hear me? A fucking dead man!"

It made no difference that Kintobor wasn't around to hear, someone would surely relay the message on his behalf.

The foxes cries of vengeance slowly began to attract an audience, drawing civilians from their dwellings, each stealing a glance at the legendary two-tailed fox as he remained immobilized in anguish. The middle for a capital city street was no place for a Mobian, let alone a well known member of the Resistance.

Loud metallic footsteps approached, interrupting the momentary silence while shaking the very earth the kit knelt on. It was a less than welcome reminder that there were ways for his day to get even worse. Placing his free paw on the asphalt, Tails found enough strength to raise himself back to his feet, baring his canines in a sinister grin as he did so. There was nothing to smile about, which is perhaps why he was.

Slowly, the humans began to back away from the fox. They didn't know his gun was bone dry, but most had probably heard a story or two. Tails had mind to give them another.

Turning he faced the SWAT bot, staring it down as if his icy gaze could instill anxiety into the circuitry of a machine. He was not afraid, he was Miles Prower, Freedom Fighter, son to murdered Resistance fighters and brother to mayhem itself. Kintobor would pay even if it cost the kit his own life.

While most Mobian cowered before Julian's robots, but fear was lost on this fox. Having taken from him what mattered most, the Dominion had made Tails more than an enemy. With silent words, the vulpine swore that every breath he drew would be in defiance to Kintobor and his cronies.

Searching for his TEC 9s, the kit's eyes fell on the machine pistols a few yards away. Unfortunately, the bot noticed too and the first round out of its auto canon was not directed at the Freedom Fighter, but rather his weapons. The ensuring blast left little more than a scrap metal by which to identify his tools.

What would have ordinarily been a problem was now a new challenge. With a sly smile the two-tailed fox removed a round from one of his spare magazine and dropped in into the chamber of his new Berretta. Feeling for the switch, Tails gave it a flick with his thumb, causing the slide to slam shut. One shot was always better than none.

Before the SWAT bot could fire again, the kit broke into a frantic sprint. Each step fueled by an anger that would only be quenched with revenge. Rage coursed through his veins, empowering the kit's muscles to do things they might ordinarily not. The machine may not have been Julian, but it still stood in his way and would receive his wrath all the same.

No doubt the SWAT bot thought it's odds of winning a match of chicken were rather high. It took off towards Tails, cocking back it's arm, threatening to break him in two with a mighty fist. But foxes were faster than machines. Ducking low under the oncoming blow, Miles could feel the steel graze the tips of his tails. Its fist sailed by leaving the machine open for attack. While the mech danced around, searching for it prey, an angered vulpine reached for his combat knife and sunk it deep into the SWAT bot's armor mid way up its back.

There were no sparks, but Tail's enemy was quick to notice the weight change. The fox was now just along for the ride, keep his hand clinched tightly around the hilt of his knife as he tried to climb even higher. However, the mech would have none of it, spinning wildly in an attempt to dislodge the stubborn Mobian.

It was becoming difficult to concentrate on the HUB. The feed on information continuously updated Miles on new and interesting way to disable his foe. Most of them were barely feasible and more often than not required some type of explosive. Despite this, he still managed to pick up on the large blinking red square indicating that another enemy had locked onto him. It was then that Tails remembered there were two of these hideous things roaming the streets. A look over his shoulder confirmed the presence of another SWAT bot, which was now training its auto canon on him and his unwilling ride.

_Time to let go,_ he thought.

Releasing his grip on the knife he plummeted back towards the city streets just as the thunderous crack echoed through the block. An inferno of expanding air tore him sideways, planting him face first into the side of a car. Despite the pain, he was doing better than the SWAT bot he had just been holding onto, which had now collapsed into a smoldering heap of molten metal.

Tails wiped the blood from his nose as he returned to his feet once again. The fox was back at square one, the only difference being new injuries. His resolve however, was double what it had been just moments ago.

Now missing the only other viable weapon aside from the one round inside Fiona's Berretta, the task of eliminating the next SWAT bot was fast becoming exponentially harder. The mechanical sound of a new high explosive round being chambered punched through the muffled murmurs of onlookers. Tails did not have the luxury of time.

With a swift bound he ascended the hood of the car next to him. In no time the fox was sprinting across its roof, leaping onto the next vehicle in a long line of parked automobiles. There was another loud concussion as the car behind him exploded, flipping onto its side amidst a giant fireball.

Tail continued to close the gap in an effort to make the mech useless. Dissatisfied with being unable to use the fox as target practice, the bot moved into crush him. However, it only managed to squash yet another vehicle as the kit took his chance and leapt onto its shoulder.

Without his knife there was nothing he could cut. Part of him hoped for a power switch that he could simply flick, but Julian would never be so kind. Tails wrapped a gloved paw around the SWAT bots head, using all of his strength in an effort to pry it loose. Now red in the face, he loosened his grip contemplating other options. While his mechanical opponent flailed around the street madly.

All at once Tails knew how he would destroy his foe. There was no question as to the insanity of his plan, but having nothing to lose meant he could afford to try anything and regret nothing. Not even his HUD could recommend and idea that had a better outcome.

_One bullet,_ he thought to himself, _one shot._ But it had to be perfect and he knew it. There was no margin for error; otherwise he may as well use it on himself.

The fox began to twist his tails as prepared himself for the jump. When her could wind them no more, Tails leapt, flipping backwards off the top of the SWAT bot. As the pavement raced towards him, he let his tails go, allowing him to glide softly to the ground.

Tails' hand reached quickly for Fiona's Berretta. It was smaller, lighter and more accurate than his older weapons, but lacked the fire power. However, that mattered little in his current situation. What he needed right now was the perfect shot, so any advantage he could get, he would take.

When his feet hit the ground, Tails could feel the bot's auto canon trained on his back, his HUD told him as much as it flash the same lock indicator as before. Spinning, he aimed the impossible shot and fired. The mech's arm exploded as its auto canon erupted into flames, tearing the machine to pieces. The HE rounds they fired were armed just prior to firing which meant if you were a good enough shot and had the necessary reflexes, it was possible to blow them up before they even left the barrel. Tails had seen Sonic do it once before, but hardly ever felt like taking the risks to repeat the feat. Today however, he had nothing to lose, nor fear.

Gasps filled the growing crowd of onlookers. No doubt the legend of the two-tailed fox would grow even further that day. "Did you see that," came a murmur from the crowed, "he flew."

Tails grinned at the notion he could fly. Holstering his weapon he turned to leave the burning wreckage.

"One shot," someone else pointed out. "He killed that thing with one shot."

It only then occurred to him that the people in this city had probably never seen a SWAT bot. The machines roamed the country side, killing with impunity, decimating town after town.

As Tails walked past the metallic skeleton of his first opponent, he wrenched his knife free without breaking stride, returning it to his sheath.

It was strange to see a crowed of humans this close to him in such a place as this, and for that matter anywhere. Normally they ran when they saw the second tail, but today however, they surrounded him with whispers and praise.

Wearing a grimace that was meant to strike apprehension into the hearts of onlookers, the kit proceeded to enter the crowed. Yet the people remained strangely absent of their own fear. _Perhaps,_ he thought, _there are still some humans that know we are not the enemy. _As the adrenalin faded, the pain came on strong and the fox began to stumble as he pushed his way through the even larger gathering of onlookers. They peered at him in disbelief, as if he was a ghost, and to be fair, he probably should have been one after a brush so close with death.

More sirens rang out in the distance as he continued through the crowed. Try as they might, the Dominion, let alone a normal copper, would never catch him. Ducking down an alley, Tails disappeared from sight and retreated to a place where he could lick his wounds. No one would dare follow him after witnessing would he had just accomplished, not even Julian's henchmen.

It wasn't until dusk that Tails managed to find his way back home, if that's what he could call it. The door to his flat swung inwards crooked on its hinges. More than likely someone had given it a good kick, and if this morning's events where any indication, it wasn't someone looking to rob him. Kintobor's agents had also done him the favor of redecorating. What little furniture the fox possessed had been strewn across the room as they were mere toys.

"Dominion," the kit sighed to himself as he shut a now worthless door behind him.

They had long since come and gone, but how they had managed to find his place was still a mystery. However, it mattered little to the fox seeing as there was nothing of consequence for them to find.

Casually the two-tailed fox sat down in now three legged chair and set to work on reloading the only magazine he had for Fiona's Berretta. Methodically, he slid each bullet into place hoping that it might be the one to find Julian.

As he sat there at the table amidst the pale evening glow of a setting sun, Miles could not help but wallow in sorrow. Capital City was notorious for breaking even the strongest of men, but the kit was no man, nor was he weak. Yet here he sat, questioning every thought and memory his mind touched. The city was rejecting him, and he it. The two-tailed fox longed for his home where he could rinse the filth of this day off of himself in waters of a cold mountain stream. Tails had never made a mistake before and he wasn't sure why he had to start now.

"Why did she have to pay for my greed?" the two-tailed fox asked of no one as he slammed a gloved fist into the rickety table that cracked beneath the blow.

Whether he wanted to admit it or not, Sally had been right about one thing. Involving someone you cared about made things considerably more complicated. Even if the vixen knew what she was getting herself into, nothing could have prepared her getting captured by the Dominion. Kintobor had a distinct fascination with Mobians, and even more so with those who he suspected were connected to the Resistance. Fiona was in for a world of pain if the doctor was feeling particularly inquisitive, especially given her involvement with his adversary, Ixis.

Tails wasn't sure how, but he would make Julian pay. The man had taken everything from him once before, but once was not enough for the dictator. Kintobor would stop at nothing to destroy any and every Mobian.

Perhaps the most painful part of it all was that he never had a chance to say goodbye. Only his screams of rage would have graced the vixen's ears as they were separated. That hardly seemed adequate enough for the fox he loved.

"I am sorry, Fiona," he whispered to the silence that filled the room, knowing not only that she would never hear it, but that it would make little difference if she could. The kit had broken a promise that he had every intention of keeping.

"I need to leave this place," he said firmly, as if to command himself.

* * *

When Tails ran out of things to think about he often found himself whispering his apologies to the vixen. The rickety clatter of the freight car wheels passed harmlessly through his mind as he stared out into the vast dullness of cornfield after cornfield through the cracks in the wooden beams.

"I am sorry," he said for what must of have easily been the hundredth time in the last day.

Traveling across the country wasn't easy for a Mobian, even one with papers. A car would have been too easy to track and Tails knew he could forget about ever stepping foot in an airport. That left him with a third option, railways. Squeezing into one of the passenger cars would have been impossible, but hitching a ride in one of the cargo holds was not nearly as difficult. It was however, lonely, which was something he was okay with. Time for self-reflection and wallowing in pity was something he needed before arriving back home.

By now, news of his little mishap had reached Sonic and Sally's ears. The squirrel would be furious with him, while Sonic would do nothing more than shrug a shoulder and pat him on the back. It was becoming hard to remember how he thought of them as family when he knew they wouldn't be there for him when he needed them most.

"No one will be," Miles added while he pondered the thought.

* * *

The sun was higher in the sky now, uncomfortably so. Sand had seeped into every strand of his sun-bleached fur. But none of that mattered anymore because he was finally where he thought he needed to be.

"Home," he said with a feint hint of a smile.

Tails found the feeling of soft foliage beneath his feet rather refreshing. The aired grass amidst the endless desert in the distance was almost comical to him. The power of water was beautiful to behold. Even the smallest quantity could provide boundless life. The branches of palm trees rustled above his head as he peered over the edge of the quarry. The shimmering surface of the lake over a hundred feet down stared back at him.

Whoever had bothered to mine for anything this far away from civilization had clearly not thought things through, but the Resistance would have gladly given them a medal if they could. This giant hole in the ground had given them the hiding place they needed to continue their operation against Kintobor. The abandoned mine showed up no maps and was nothing more than a tiny green spec on a satellite image. The Freedom Fighters had seen fit to make use of the tunnels running underground, turning them into a spacious home beneath a sea of nothing.

Without hesitation, Tails leapt with all his might, flailing his arms as if to defy gravity as he plummeted downwards towards the glassy liquid. There were officially only two ways into the Knothole, the elevator and the slide. However, the kit often found himself in more of a hurry than either of those two options afforded.

"I need a bath anyway," he concluded as continued to fall, remembering the sand he despised so much.

At the last possible moment he pointed his toes downwards and put both his hands at his side slimming down his profile to that of a dagger. The icy blast of the water was a provided a pleasant adrenalin rush as the liquid surrounded him.

As much as he wanted to, wilting away in waters of the quarry was not an option today. Unenthusiastically he reached for rope latter that hung from his balcony, pulling himself up rung by rung. When he reached the ledge he shook himself as violently as he could in an attempt to rid the water from himself and his clothes. No longer sopping wet, the kit reached for his sliding glass door only to discover a note taped next to the handle.

_Let's talk. ~Sal_

"Great," the two-tailed fox sighed as he crumpled the paper and let himself in.

For a moment Tails eyed his workbench, longing to get lost in a project where he could escape the hell that was fast becoming his life, but he thought better of it. Sally had no idea when he would be back, but she was not someone he wanted to keep waiting. Anger could stew inside of her for months, if not longer, evolving in flavor with each passing hour.

"Just get it out of the way," Tails suggested to the fox that stared back at him in the mirror that hung on the back of his apartment door. "Sonic isn't around to take her side."

With apprehension he opened the door to the desolate hallways of knothole that had now become foreign to him. Tails now found himself longing for chaos, for the streets of the Upper East Side where he pined to catch a glimpse of certain velvet red fox. He still saw Fiona in his dreams and part of him knew she was still out there.

"It's her home," the kit reminded himself as he tried to live in his delusions, placing himself back on the city's streets in his mind's eye. "There's nowhere else she could be."

He had assumed returning to Knothole would calm his mind, but instead everything felt worse. _Isn't home supposed to comfort us._ However, it had done anything but. The threat of angered royal figure loomed in his future leaving only despair and loneliness to comfort him when she was done. _Home is where the heart is,_ he thought, _and my heart is still with Fiona._

Outside of Sally's office sat an all too familiar coyote. His fur was ragged, uniform torn, and spirits at rock bottom. The Mobian had seen better days, but today was not likely to be one of them. Sitting down next to him, the fox joined his companion as they waited to be reprimanded for their actions.

"I covered for you as long as I could," Tails proclaimed when it became obvious Antoine wasn't going to say anything.

"It's fine, you can nots help that I amz a coward."

"You're not," Tails assured him, "everyone has their lines they won't cross. Sally can't blame you for not crossing yours."

"Thank you," the coyote replied reverently.

The sound of the squirrel's office door opening cut their conversation short.

"Alright," she interjected, "which one of you is up first?"

The two-tailed fox exchanged an uneasy look with Antione.

"I vill flip youz for it, Tails." The coyote suggest as he produced a coin, "call it."

The fox couldn't help but grin, "tails."

And tails it was. However, he never had any intentions of sticking around knothole long. Revenge was fresh on his mind and had nearly a week to cement itself squarely in the middle of all of his thoughts. When Antoine made a move to get up, Tails motioned for him to remain seated as he approached threshold of Sally's office.

"I'll see you around, Ant," the kit said with a fading smile as he shut the door behind the two of them.

Growing up in a place with almost no rules meant it was pretty hard to get in to trouble. All Tails had to do was what was asked of him. Beyond that Sally paid very little mind to the kit. That however had ended the second he met Fiona.

"Tails," the squirrel began as she sat down in her desk chair, "I thought you were one of my agents that I didn't have to worry about. "

"No one ever said you had to worry."

"Tails, I care about you as if you were my own brother. I tried to tell you that this would happen if you didn't let her go."

He should have known the princess was going to play the 'I told you so card'. The two-tailed fox did his best to hold back his tongue, boring his teeth in anger instead. Sally's voice was bathed in sympathy, causing his tails to curl in disgusts as he tried to ignore the unwanted empathy.

"I just want to look out for you like any older sister would," she continued. "You can't be so reckless, Tails."

"Pick one," the kit spat back in a venomous tone.

"What do you mean?" Sally asked cautiously, now slightly unnerved by his sudden hostility.

"I mean you can be my family or my queen, but no both at the same time, so pick one!"

Sally stared at him blankly, unsure how to respond.

"If you were my family, you would want me to be happy, so the way I see it that leaves you one choice."

"Tails, I always want you to be happy, but sometime the cost is too high."

"That's not for you to decide. If you had just accepted her as one of us…" he screamed back before she cut him off.

"Then what?" Sally interpreted curtly. "None of this would have happened? She wouldn't still be in the same damn spot she is in now. Of course, the difference would be Resistance instead of a nobody."

The kit found himself on the verge of tears, "She has never been a nobody. Fiona is the strongest Mobian I have ever met. Why couldn't you see that? Why couldn't you give her a chance?"

"I already told you, she worked with Naugus."

"Bullshit!" Tails growled.

"And," Sally continued, "that if you let your heart get tangled up in this that you would get hurt. Look what happened."

"So this is all about you being right? You don't even care about what happened to her. Or how I feel about her."

"How dare you…"

"How dare I what," Tails asked, cutting her off. "Demand the truth? You still see me as the little fox you and Sonic found twelve years ago, but I'm not. I don't need you to protect me from the world anymore. I have known for a long time that it's a dark, cruel place and have been living in it the same as you. If you're my family, I need you to have my back, no matter what. So I'll ask you again, why couldn't you give her a chance?"

Sally's face slowly began to bubble over with rage. She was not used to being talked down to.

"Because I am trying to win this war and I don't need my best agent running around with some tramp!" the squirrel shouted, now seething with anger.

"Sonic still is and has been," Tails retorted suggestively as got to his feet.

Miles was not going to let anyone talk about Fiona like that, not even Sally. Although he was glad Sonic wasn't around to hear those words. There was little doubt the hedgehog would defend Sally with more than just strong words.

"If Sonic was here," she scowled.

"He isn't," the fox reminded her as he turned to leave.

Tails wasn't worried about her telling him either. It would require too much context and admitting that she had been lying to him too. The kit and the hedgehog were lifelong friends and would not be easily pitted against one another.

"Where do you think you're going?" Sally barked at him.

"Remember how you said you were worried about losing your best agent?" the kit commented snidely as he opened the door. "Well you can stop worrying now because he is gone."

Slamming the door behind him, Tails did his best to ignore Antoine's bewildered looks before melding into the faint shadows of the hallway. Despite his cowardliness, anyone who would have heard their shouting match would have probably dawned a similar look. It was uncommon to hear a bitter word amongst the core member of the Freedom Fighters.

By the time Sally reached the door to chase after him, the kit had long faded from sight.

"Tails," she shouted after him. "Come back here right now!"

Perhaps she had not yet learned that he was immune to her demands. No longer would he march to the beat of her drum just because she commanded something.

"Where did he go?" Sally demanded of the coyote who was still awaiting his audience with her.

"I am sorry my princess, I do not know. He did ze thing he always is doing and disappeared."

"What do you mean disappeared?"

"I mean I look away for just one moment and poof he is how you say… gone? Why is my princess so upset with Tails?"

"Because he found himself another tail," she remarked, still fuming.

"What?" Antoine responded in confusion. "My princess must be mistaken. Tails still had only two when I saws him not but a moment ago."

The coyote was no fool, but he often lacked insight into the true meaning of other's words.

Even from a distance, Tails could see the squirrel smile for a moment. He was worried that she had made him, but the long shadows in the hall were nearly impenetrable while he walked amongst them. The kit watched as Sally waved Antoine away, either too frustrated to deal with him or having lost the heart to scold another one her Resistance fighters.

Focusing now on the more pressing task, Tails glided over the linoleum floors that had never been waxed. The fox moved silently on the pads of his feet, navigating the maze of corridors and avoiding contact with anyone. While he was in knothole he could be made a prisoner at the behest of his princess, confined to his room like a child.

"No, I think not," he whispered to himself in response to the thought.

When she was mad, Sally could be difficult, and that was putting it lightly. After what the kit had said to her, he wouldn't have been surprised to find guards waiting in his room with orders to drag him back to her dingy excuse for an office just so she could yell at him more.

Thankfully his apartment was still dark and untouched, a layer of dust now covering and tolls. Cleaning them would have to wait as he wouldn't be needing them where we was going. The only thing of interest to him was inside the biometric safe tucked away in the corner. The fox had managed to stash away well over ten million dollars in unmarked non sequential bills. He would need all the money he could get. Bribes were not cheap in Capital City.

It was painful to part with what he had one day hoped to disappear with. There were parts of this world where a Mobian could still live a life without tyranny. But he knew that life would not be the same without someone to live it with. For Fiona, he was willing to give up everything he owned, even if it was just for a chance to see her one more time.

_Maybe,_ he thought, _this time I could at least say goodbye. _

When his backpack would not hold any more of the green paper, Tails turned in search of new weapons. The TEC 9s he had lost were among some of his favorites, custom built from the ground up. However, nothing his eyes fell on seemed like an adequate replacement for the Berretta Fiona left behind. Her scent still clung loosely to the polished steel, sending a new pulse of memories through his brain. It was the once piece of her he could still hold onto.

Instead of a new gun, the kit found a suppressor and slid it into a pocket in his vest. Silence would be his new weapon, and his presence unseen. He would not even make a shadow for his enemy's to name.

"She was the Red Shadow," Tails whispered to himself, "I will simply be the bleakness amongst darkness."

Since his election, Kintobor had become a ghost, his whereabouts unknown. The man rarely made a public appearance for fear of a Freedom Fighter retaliation.

"To catch a ghost," the kit said aloud, "I must first become one."

Stepping into the shadows, Tails had no intention of returning to light until Julian was dead. A taste for vengeance, strong and sweet had him salivating as a palpable level of determination coursed through his veins. Only seeing Kintobor suffer a fate befitting of his monstrosities would quench his desire. The man knew not the beast that hunted him.

* * *

This is far from perfect. It's fragments of what I want it to be, but it's been to long and I owe anyone still reading this story something.

Cheers,

M.D


	14. Seeing Without Seeing

Fiona hid her despair well as the rotund dictator strutted around her like a peacock eager to display its prestige.

"This is Ixis' pet fox?" Julian asked eagerly.

Her captor, the one in the armor, nodded as he confirmed the answer to a questions that wasn't really a question.

"Ohhh, how very interesting," the fat man continued. "Not quite what I was expecting."

"She isn't Resistance, just some city born low life," the man she now suspected was Jake said as he looked down at her condescendingly.

"Then what was she doing working with them?"

"I thought you would like to ask her yourself, Sir."

Kintobor turned back to face her, staring deeply into her eyes as he lowered his tiny circular spectacles. Blood shot irises faded into a deep black pupil creating a gaze so haunting she almost couldn't help but look away.

"So," he began, "what do you have to say for yourself? Why were you working with those Freedom Fighter scum."

"Needed the extra money," she lied.

And why not, she was good at it. Certainly good enough to fool these two idiots anyway.

"Ixis doesn't pay well," the vixen went on, "and Miles and his crew needed another set of paws. Promised me a cut if everything went well."

"And, did it?" Julian asked rhetorically, knowing full well that it hadn't.

Fiona managed to crack a smile in an effort to appear unfazed by his demeanor, "not really."

"I like this one," Kintobor proclaimed as he left her where she stood in favor of the chair behind his desk. "She doesn't blabber on and on or beg me not to kill her."

_I already know you're going to kill me,_ she thought, _it's just a matter of when now._

"I see why Ixis kept you around you for so long, it's a shame he wasn't smart enough to hold on to you." the president continued. "So tell me, what else do you know about the Resistance."

_It wasn't Ixis who let go,_ she thought.

"Nothing much," the vixen replied, "they're a secretive bunch."

This at least was more truth than fiction. Even though she had spent an hour with Miles' HUD, she still knew next to nothing about who or what the Resistance actually was, let alone anything these two mopes would want to know.

"Bullshit," Jake yelled, clearly upset.

"Private, do you have something you would like to add?" the red suited man asked, eying his soldier with curiosity.

"She killed the Director, robbed a bank both with Miles Prower at her side. Then she gets caught, but of course is saved by," Jake tapped his fingers repetitively on the Julian's desk as he performed a drum roll, "none other than Miles Prower himself. So I say bullshit, because this all sounds like a lot more than a hired gun to me. She has to know more."

Fiona shrugged her shoulders as if to dismiss the comments, "To you, I am sure it would sound like that."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean," the agent growled as he got defensive.

"I thought it was pretty obvious," the velvet red fox responded, playfully wagging her tail in response as she enjoyed the rise she got out of him far more than she expected. "It's obviously a little too complicated for you."

"Then explain it to me," Kintobor said so sternly that she nearly shrank in fear.

"The director," the vixen began," Ixis wanted him dead, so now he is dead."

That was the most truthful thing she had said thus far, but she knew it was going to go back down hill and fast.

"Why bring the two-tailed freak?" Julian asked with no change in tone.

Fiona had to remember who she was dealing with. This man was beyond twisted, so the insult against the fox she loved would have to be taken in stride along with everything else.

"Why not?" she responded with an easily answered question. "He offered to help. The Resistance wanted him dead every bit as much as Naugus. I mean who wouldn't want Miles Prower at their back if they could have him. Besides, the poor thing was trying so hard to impress me, I thought I had to give him a chance."

And he had been trying to impress her, although that wasn't why the kit had decided to help her, but they didn't need to know that.

"Why the bank then?" Jake asked, pressing to find the flaw in her story.

"I already told you, the money was good."

"And I'll say it again, bullshit. Ixis would never have allowed you to do that," the agent proclaimed confidently as he slammed a fist into Julian's desk.

The president eyed Jake for a moment, but let his outburst go unpunished. The rotund man was far more interested in what she had to say. Luckily, the fox had seen this coming and had covered herself already. It was true, Nuagus never would have given her permission to go on such an escapade, and with the Resistance no less. However, as with all things there was an exception, if the crime lord saw some benefit to himself, he would have gladly given it his stamp of approval.

"Have you checked your offshore accounts recently," the fox asked, her sly smile returning as the dictator's disappeared.

Just the implication alone drained the color from an already pale man. As his oversized fingers stumbled across the keyboard, beads of sweat began to form on his forehead. It was finally his turn to slam his desk, "Son of a bitch."

Jake stumbled back in surprise as if he hadn't expected that type of reaction. Fiona did recall reading somewhere in the Tails' HUD how levelheaded Julian was supposed to be. Outburst, when they did occur could be violent, but rarely every contained profanity. At least she felt some vindication from the pain she had helped cause him.

"Ixis wanted to get some of the money you stole from him back. He gave me the account numbers to wire it to and told me I could keep whatever I could get out of the bank for myself."

It was a big lie, but they had no reason to doubt it. The money was missing, and if they traced it they would easily find that some of it had in fact been deposited in one of Naugus' accounts. Fate had clearly been on her side when she told the kit to make it appear that Ixis had stolen some of the money.

"Fine," Jake said reluctantly, but it still doesn't explain why Miles rescued you. Why are you so special that he would risk his own life breaking you out of a copper prescient? I have never heard of them coming back for anyone but one of their own."

"Good question," the vixen conceded, "I have no idea."

_Because he loves me you idiot. _

"Maybe Ixis put him up to it.," Fiona suggested, "The man lent me out and he doesn't like having his things taken away from him. Or perhaps Miles just has a soft spot for me. I don't care either way, and as you can see, it didn't do me much good anyway."

Kintobor chuckled, "No, no it did not."

He paused for a moment as he sized her up in more ways than one, "I am curious about one more thing though."

Fiona gulped, swallowing what she could only assume was her last breath. However, she refused to let him see her wear even a shred of fear.

"Why tell me any of this? What would Ixis think if he knew? Or the Resistance?"

"What's it to me?" None of them can help me now and the way I see it you can."

"And how might I do that?"

"I am sure," Fiona began as she plopped herself down in the chair opposite of the president, testing the bounds of her captivity while displaying her arrogance, "that there are plenty of things you would like that only someone such as myself could find. And by the looks of it, you could use some employees that actually know what the hell they're doing."

"I am standing right here," Jake reminded her.

Kintobor didn't seem to mind the fox making herself at home in his office, he searched instead for any trace of a lie in her over confident gaze.

"A very attractive proposition," Julian answered, ignoring his soldier's reservations altogether. "But I am not in the habit of letting Mobians talk me into or out of anything. Jake, get this sly silver tongued creature out of my office before I lose my grip on reality. I don't have time for this."

"Of course, sir. Right away."

"But don't do anything rash with her, there might be some value on this one. She seems to lack any sense of loyalty, and I do believe I can work with that," Julian said contemplatively as he twiddled his fingers together.

_Loyalty,_ Fiona thought, _I have plenty, just none to you._ Although she couldn't fault him for thinking that. The vixen had always done what was best for her, even at the expense of others, that was, up until she met Miles.

Fiona had just found herself starting to feel at home when the black satin bag went back over her head. A thick steel gloved hand found the crook of her arm and yanked her harshly upwards.

"C'mon," Jake insisted. "Let's find some place nice and cozy for you."

The vixen had the strangest feeling that her new abode would be anything but comfy. She could have resisted, but there was no point. The red fox was in the most secure building in the entire country and if there was no getting in, she only could imagine how difficult it might be to get out.

The ding of an elevator arriving reminded her that she was not totally blind. All of her other sense were still working.

"I know you're lying," Jake began after the doors shut and the lift began its descent. "You might be able to fool him, but you're not going to fool me."

She smiled. This one was smarter than she gave him credit for.

"I couldn't care less to be honest," he continued, "all of you animals are the same to me. If he is dumb enough to be fooled by one of you, then that's his problem."

"You're lying just as much," she responded in kind. "You put on the tough guy act, but even right now you're scared of me."

"You wish," he laughed in response.

"Even with this thing over my head I feel your gaze, smell the fear seeping out of your armor, hear your heightened heartbeat. How many times have you looked at my handcuffs since we got on the elevator?"

There was no response, only the sound of a Dominion agent taking a step away from her. It might have been the first time the agent ever realized the advantageous the smaller creatures possessed. What Mobians often lacked in stature they made up for in strength, heightened perception and resilience.

"Don't worry," Fiona insisted, "they're tight enough. What would be the point anyway? Sure, I could kill you, but then what?"

"I would like to see you try."

"Would you?" Fiona asked enthusiastically, wagging her tail eagerly accepting his challenge.

"You're talking a lot for a prisoner you know that?"

"Would you prefer I remain quiet?"

The man didn't answer, using his silence instead as the answer to her question.

The holding cell was bigger than she expected, far larger than any room she had ever called her own. If only she had known it was waiting for her here all this time.

"Welcome home" Jake said gruffly as he removed the shroud and shoved the fox inside.

Stumbling, she caught her balance just in time. Having her hands tied behind her back was fast becoming annoying.

"Can you at least take these off?" Fiona asked as she shook the tempered steel fetters around her wrists, "I don't think I'll be needing them anymore."

Locking eyes with her, the human contemplated his choices. He owed her nothing, but stepped forward producing a small silver key all the same.

_Fool,_ Fiona thought as she hid her smirk and replaced it with something that looked more helpless. Jake assumed himself the dominant force in the room, but the vixen sought to remind him that he wasn't.

With a twist of the key, the first shackle fell off and the fox sighed a relief of appreciation, "Thanks sweetie."

When the second lock clicked Fiona could no longer contain the grin she was desperately struggling to hide. By the time Jake realized he had made a mistake, it was too late.

Tails had taught her size was irrelevant, it was all about using the enemy's strength against them. Once free, she quickly grabbed the agent's wrist while sweeping his legs. Clad in armor and top heavy, Jake fell to ground in a grand crash, moaning in discomfort as his hand neared the breaking point. But the vixen wasn't done embarrassing him yet, she was far from it in fact.

Repurposing the shackles, Fiona fastened one end around the man's arm and the other around the door handle. With a stern kick she slammed the entrance shut, leaving just the two of them trapped in the room together. The vixen knew she wasn't going anywhere, so there was no reason to try. Instead she would remind this Dominion agent where he fell in the order of things. After she was done, Fiona took a seat on the cot in the corner of the room, well out of reach the irate but restrained man to watch him squirm.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jake growled as he tugged at the handcuffs while searching the ground for the key he assumed he had dropped.

"Looking for this?" the fox asked playfully as she spun his freedom around the tip her finger.

"What are you going to do now?" Jake asked as he got to his feet. "You can't open these doors from the inside, so there's no escaping."

_Surely you didn't think I was that dull witted did you, Jake? _He didn't see the point yet, but he would soon enough.

"Nothing," the vixen shrugged. "And neither are you. Even if you want to, you can't kill me. You have to do as you're told," Fiona sighed sympathetically, "I know all about how that feels, so I thought we could just have some fun."

Jake's eyes widened in obvious disapproval of what he believed her to be implying.

"Oh," the fox replied, "clearly we have different ideas about fun. Just stow that thought, I don't want you getting your hopes up. I only want to talk. I have this funny feeling it's going to get rather lonesome in here when you leave."

"Why the hell would I talk to you?"

"You seem like the lonely type, I thought you might enjoy it," she teased. "No one is around, so how about it?"

The gears in his brain had finally begun to turn as he realized what she had done. Jake was stuck both figuratively and literally. To scream for help was to admit defeat. He would look worthless if found chained up in one of the holding cells by a Mobian half his size.

"The key," Jake said through gritted teeth as he struggled to contain his anger, "and I'll think about not beating you with an inch of your life when I get out of this."

"So you don't want to talk then?" Fiona asked as she pulled her feet up onto the bed, resting her forearms on her knees. "What else are we going to do with all of this time together?"

The fox did not often underestimate people, but she was starting to think there was a reason this agent was trusted to guard one of the most important people in Julian's cabinet. Without warning, Jake let out a primordial scream as he ripped the handle clean off the door. The knob clanked loudly against his armor while it dangled freely from the handcuffs still attached at his wrist. Fiona could not help but frown.

The vixen had worn the man' patience thin, the force behind his punch told her as much. When Fiona picked herself up from the floor, she could taste the saltiness of her own blood pooling in the back of her mouth.

_I deserved that,_ she thought retrospectively as she felt around with her tongue for missing teeth. _Although he could have at least taken off his glove._

Only coming up to somewhere around his belly button, it was hard to look him directly in the eyes. Nonetheless, she found his gaze before turning hers to the floor and spitting a large gob of reddened saliva on his boots. Fiona couldn't think of a better way to dare the man to try and hit her again. Jake may have ripped the handle off the door, but he was still trapped in the room with her.

"Julian," Jake began triumphantly, "never said anything about hurting you."

"Take that armor off and we will see who's in pain," the fox retorted.

Jake was not keen on pressing his luck, even with his armor. Instead he relied on the fury burning in his eyes to convey the message. Reluctantly, the vixen held out the ring of keys, which the agent snapped away without giving her a chance to change her mind.

After he removed the tattered restraints and clipped them back into his belt, the man whispered something into his com device. Within just a few short seconds a guard opened the door to let the agent out.

"Good talk," he exclaimed condescendingly as he slammed the door behind him, leaving her alone in the stark white barren room.

The red vixen sat behind the steel composite bars staring out into blinding solitude. The walls were stained in a metallic white as the overhead lights washed out any remaining color. Day or night there was no reprieve from the brightness that bled through her eyelids. Fiona sighed deeply to herself as she slumped down to the floor. It had been days since she had been deposited in this prison and the only thing she could do to bide her time was think about how she had ended up in this predicament.

Kintobor and his goons had finally caught up with her. Even despite Miles best efforts, the will of the forces colluding against her was too much. It was as if her worst nightmares had come to life causing the feeling of helplessness to set in quickly, forcing the fox to retreat mentally form the world.

The vixen had been dragged around with a black satin shroud over her head as men strong-armed her from place to place until they inevitably forced her into this room. The fact that they hadn't killed her yet suggested they had plans for her still, which didn't amuse her in the least. While she had come to know many twisted people in her life, it was clear Julian was perhaps the most well regarded in this facet, and sitting alive in one of his prisons did nothing to lift her spirits.

All Fiona had wanted was to be free, but the feelings were short lived. Ixis had looked after her, given her advice that served her far better than any other. However, for something as stupid as love she went against her better judgment. The vixen had made room in her heart for another, but all it did was soften her. Tails had promised he would never let her go again, but here she sat well outside his reach. It didn't matter that she could here his shouts of sorrow as the van pulled away, he hadn't done what she had been doing her whole life, and that was looking after her.

As the hours smashed into one another, Fiona traced her life backwards through time. It was an odd and somewhat futile endeavor to determine where everything had went wrong. There were so many places where just one tiny decision would have resulted in her sitting anywhere but here. The most obvious memories to target where those of the two tailed fox she still pined for in her dreams, but the problem went back further than that. Her earliest option to escape the clutches of Kintobor went back nearly ten years. Fiona had the misfortune of hearing just a few words that would forever change her outlook on life. The tiny seed of an idea given to her by a passing stranger, Ixis Naugus, had taken hold guaranteeing her fate. With as much vividness as she could, the fox retreated into her memories a decade. But living in her thoughts was unusually short lived, or at least so it seemed. What felt like weeks had passed since she had last spoken to anyone.

A voice penetrated the silence, "Why the sad look young one?"

Fiona opened her eyes and stared out the small gaps between bars. The cell across from her was empty.

"Who's there?"

"A friend I suspect," a Mobian purred. "After all we are in this together now aren't we?"

"How can you see me?"

"One does not necessarily need their eyes to see, surely you must know that."

It was coming from the cell next to her. The struggle in his voice told her its occupant was old and frail. She couldn't fathom why the Dominion even bother with someone who was near the end of their life already.

"What did they drag you in here for?" she asked feeling overly sympathetic now.

"Even if I knew, I suspect it wouldn't make much difference. But enough of me, you still have not answered my question. Why the sad look?"

Without a mirror it was impossible to know how she might have appeared. Her face felt numb, immune to any expression good or bad.

"I just wanted to be free," the vixen admitted, "but now I am right back where I started. If he doesn't kill me, Julian will just make me a slave, the same way Ixis did."

"Life can be an odd journey. Sometimes it takes us strange places in order to get to where we need to be… to where we want to be. You just have to be willing to wade into the water and let the current take you. If you try to fight it, you will surely grow tired only to drown in vain and in pain.

"So what you're saying is that I should just give up?"

"And drown? No my dear, you're not listening. You must still tread water, but to fight the current is unwise."

"I won't be anyone's pet again," Fiona stammered.

"A leash is much easier to wear than a gravestone wouldn't you agree? How hard have you fought to stay alive?"

Fiona didn't answer.

"And you want to throw it all away now?" the stranger asked.

"I thought you said not to fight."

"I did, and I also said not to give up. There is a delicate line we must all walk."

The voice of the outsider was oddly comforting and at the same time familiar. Why she listened to the voices of strangers, Fiona couldn't be sure. They did however, often make themselves available when she needed the guidance most. Had she not only been thinking on Ixis life changing words moments ago? If the vixen was going to continue living for herself, then she was going to have to start by continuing to live.

"For years, I pushed a mop around Station Square, not because I wanted to, but because it was the path of least resistance. The job taught me patience, a virtue not all of us are fortune it enough have bestowed on us. And in the end, I will be right where I want to be, with my family."

"Moray?" she asked aloud, trying with only marginal success to conjure his face in her mind, but there was no response.

* * *

Only a week to update, not that bad this time around. Special thanks to my beta reader for making this easier! I, for a change, feel very good about this chapter and loved writing it. Hopefully the same goes for reading it.

Comments, reviews, criticism all welcome.

Cheers,

M.D


	15. Into the Shadows

The summer months had come and gone, leaving behind the warm muggy air that Capital City was well known for. Burying his paws deep in a charcoal colored trench coat, the kit exhaled a warm cloud into the bitter night air as he padded softly down the dimly lit street. Even if both of his tails were hidden beneath the jacket, the fox had no intentions on spending much time in the open. Nearly the entire world was pitted against him, both human and Mobian alike.

No longer was Miles operating with the support of the Resistance network he had relied upon in the past. Having all but been disavowed, Tails was on his own, hunting the one person who many regarded as untouchable. The problem was, it wasn't just Julian's men looking for him anymore, but a handful of Sally's best agents as well. The squirrel wanted him back, and if he had to guess, it wasn't so she could apologize. A rouge Freedom Fighter could cost them everything they had fought so hard to protect. However, he was not about to about to crawl back to Sally with either of his tails tucked between his legs all because of a little extra pressure.

Locating the two-tailed fox had proven harder than either side likely expected. Finding a shadow amongst the darkness was no easy task. Everywhere they looked they only saw the same thing, nothing. The kit had gone off the grid entirely, making sure to stay off all the networks. Whatever information Tails needed now, he would learn about the old fashioned way.

Changing directions, the kit headed down a derelict alley as he checked for a tail that didn't belong to him. The feeling of paranoia was new to him, but it was his mind's attempt to keep him safe. At the end, a soft yellow light flickered above a barred metal door. With three deliberate raps, Miles announced his presence to those inside. The Den of Shadows was well known for being neutral ground. Dominion and Freedom Fighters were both admitted so long as they followed the rules; no names, no violence, and no lies. Breaking any of them would earn its offender a lifetime ban.

The fox watched cross-eyed as a solitary snowflake came to rest on the tip of his nose. He was an enigma in a place like this, alone wolf amongst packs of wild animals. With no side backing him, he only had his own interest to look after.

A pair of glowing green eyes greeted him from behind a small gap cut in the door.

"Johnny," the kit said gruffly.

The raccoon nodded in response. The middle aged Mobian was not famous for his conversation skills. The door swung inward and the raccoon motioned for him to follow. The back entrance was sealed off for a reason, most were not meant to use it. However, to stay out of site and consequently out of everyone else's mind, the sly fox had negotiated the use of a different entrance to his source of secrets. No one could ever know he was there if they didn't seem enter or leave.

"I finally found the one I told you about," Johnny said cautiously, almost in fear of letting another hear his voice.

"I thought you said that he doesn't follow the rules?"

"He doesn't, but we tolerate him because of his reputation for good information."

Johnny led him into one of the most secluded rooms in the entire facility. There was hardly enough light for even the well-honed eyes of a fox to see. The other owner of the establishment was already seated and waiting, his tired face well hidden in the darkness, leaving only the man's voice to create a picture.

"Johnny," Tails said for the second time that night as he tried to hold back his amusement that the business partners shared a name.

Although it had long ago occurred to him that these were not their real names. Sharing a name only helped further anonymity and confusion amongst their enemies. The average looking human was still in the same suit he had been three days ago, his body showing every bit was much wear and tear as the fabric he wore. Unlike his Mobian companion, who was often mute, this Johnny could and would talk for hours.

"Johnny and I," he began before pausing in search of the correct phrasing, "we feel pretty bad about the low quality informants we have sent your way. With all that has happened in the last couple of months we no longer have the time to vet everyone who claims to have information as rare as what you are after. And with rewards as high as yours, there is no shortage of want to be informants…" the man trailed off.

The information business was booming again. Rumor had it that Julian was looking for something, which meant tons of Dominion money was washing through this place in search of any shred of evidence of whatever it was that Kintobor had set his sights on this time. But with the money came the liars. Tails was offering twice what most people were, up front no less, for any information on where Julian hung his hat. Unfortunately, any fool desperate enough for cash could come up with a convincing story.

"We treat our top clients well," Johnny continued, "and we don't like to see them waste their credits. We have found that it discourages future transactions, which is not good for us."

The duo were some of the few honest people left in the city, which was ironic considering their trade. The Johnnys saw a cut of all deals between parties while doing their best to ensure quality of information and that the rules were followed.

"I'll spend every last cent I own if it means getting my hands on Kintobor," Tails growled in frustration.

The pair grimaced slightly. They were impartial to an extent, but eliminating one of the their largest indirect benefactors would not bode well for their business.

"We have arranged a special meeting for you today. I trust my partner has already informed you of his shortcomings."

The kit nodded, "He has been breaking the rules."

"Amongst other things," the human mused. "He has become somewhat of a junkie, and this is how he pays for his habit."

Tails was getting sick of the drug addicts. His last two meeting had been with contacts that ticked nervously as they told him their lies. The fox paid them all the same on the off chance either of them was right. His word was his bond and his ticket to this place, which is why he could not risk offending anyone.

"However," Johnny went on, "He isn't like the others. All of his tips have checked out, even some of the more speculative ones. The man, as degenerate as he is, has a perfect record for delivery in our books."

"What kind of rules has this guy broken? Am I in any danger?"

"We have warned him more than once for using names, although it's not like what you might expect. The good for nothing junkie is trying to cut us out by slipping all of our clients his name."

The kit leaned back in his chair he weighed his options, _a wannabe information broker._ If the junkie were in fact starting up his own little charade he wouldn't get far by disrespecting people's identities.

"We have worked out a special finders fee with him. Additionally, the meeting will take place here were we can assure you your anonymity."

It was a respectable proposition, but this time Tails had more to loose than just his money. If anyone caught even a whiff of his presence in Capital City, Julian would stop at nothing to flush him out.

"Will you be interested in an introduction, my friend?" Johnny asked as he patiently awaited an acknowledgement from the fox.

"He claims to have info on Kintobor?"

Both of the Jonnys nodded, but as usual only the human responded, "He is however, charging more than you have been offering."

"How much?"

"Fifty upfront and another twenty five on conformation."

"Done," Tails replied without even batting an eye.

A daunting sum to most, seventy-five thousand credits was nothing to a Resistance Fighter. The kit's pockets still ran deep, even despite his spending spree on useless information. With luck perhaps this new fellow would not be as worthless as the others.

Both Johnnys were every bit the shadowy figure he was, which is perhaps why they all got along so well. Neither owner was well known for going out of the way for clients unless paid to do so. The two-tailed fox's name was no mystery to them, but it had little to do with why they held him in such high regard.

"Come with me," the raccoon said, his features slipping through the darkness as if he was hardly there at all.

"He is here now?"

"We know how desperate you are for this information," the other Johnny responded for his quiet partner. "We didn't want to keep you waiting. You've treated us well, we only wish to return the favor."

Tails produced a thick band of money, setting it on the table between them. The Mobian picked it up and motioned for the two tailed fox to follow.

"I could tell you more about this fellow," the raccoon started in his sheepish voice, "but then I would be breaking my own rules. He has a slippery slope for a past, but I don't believe you have anything to be worried about."

_I'll be the judge of that._

Johnny led him to the front of the building and into the main room. In a far corner amongst the darkest of booths sat a human, tall and lanky. The grey furred Mobian set the money down on the table and pushed it into the shadows.

"I took the liberty of retrieving our fee," Johnny said as he stepped away, "Please do try and remember the rules."

A pale hand reached out from the bleakness and pulled the green paper out of sight.

"Sit," a voice suggested.

Tails sat, sliding himself far back into the corner, where even the glow of his eyes would barely be seen by the stranger. His coat may have hidden his shape, but the fox's eyes were still very different than those of a human.

"I was told you have some information for me."

"Maybe," the man suggested in an abnormally normal tone.

The kit's patience was already growing thin, "Let's have it then."

"I can't tell you were he lives," the human began, "but I can tell you one spot he visits every so often."

This was the break he was looking for. Even if he was a junkie, this mystery person's voice lacked the hesitation of a liar.

"Go on," Tails replied, trying to hide his eagerness.

"There's a small lab facility a few blocks south of the financial district, nothing fancy or anything. When you locate it, wait around long enough and you will find Kintobor."

This seemed too easy, which bothered the two-tailed fox.

"How could you possibly know that?"

"What difference does it make?"

Tails reached into his pocket and found more credits, "this kind."

He would gladly pay an extra fee to know if he should even bother risking his life.

"Save your money, you seem like the repeat customer type. I'll give you this one on the house. A couple months back I had me a nice job as a government lap dog. I was one of four personal guards for the Director of the Dominion. After he went and got himself whacked me and my partner got put out to pasture while some pretty boy got to keep his job. Let's just say spurned Dominion agents are not very loyal creatures."

Tails chuckled audibly. The fox had managed to inadvertently create an informant. This man got fired as a result of him helping Fiona kill the Director. Although, the Mobian wasn't about to tell his informant that.

"That still doesn't explain how you know about Julian."

The former Dominion agent sighed, "I escorted the Director to the same lab almost once a month. Each time he met that fat sack of shit there for whatever it is those two talk about."

The man could have been lying, but the fox was in a unique position to know that at least part of it checked out. However, one thing was still unsettling.

"'Retired' Dominion agents are hard to come by because Julian usually has them killed," the kit pondered aloud, "so why are you so special?"

"I am not. My partner is dead, or at least I think he is, all because he didn't believe the stories about what happens to Dominion agents who got fired. The pretty boy got to keep his job and his partner was got killed by one of them foxes. As for me, I just faked my death, took a small vacation and started up this little side business of selling Kintbor's dirty laundry. I suspect it's only a matter of time before they catch up with me, but I figure I'll just have some fun until then."

Four agents with one dead sounded a lot like the crew that caught up with him and Fiona a couple months ago. The memory of slamming a Dominions agent's skull into the side of an armored truck began to surface, and along with it the rage and frustration of losing the vixen. Tails was starting to believe this man was who he said he was.

The fox reached a paw across the table to conclude their business, "a pleasure."

"Not so fast. If there is anything more rare than a retired agent, it's a retired Freedom Fighter. In fact, I have never even heard of such a thing. So what gives?"

"I believe you have the wrong idea about me. I didn't quit and I wasn't fired, I am just… on vacation." Tails quipped, the light catching the canines in his grin.

The man laughed light heartedly, "Shit, that certainly explains quiet a bit about you lot. Don't give up for a second. You remind me an awful lot of that two-tailed fella that got me fired with your smug smile and all."

"Oh yeah?" Tails asked worrying now that he might have been made.

The man was coming dangerously close to divulging his name. _Say it and it will be the last thing you do._

"What's his name, tip of my tongue… whatever, doesn't matter. Memory isn't quite what it used to be, too much partying if you know what I mean. But if you ever run into him make sure to thank the guy for me, would you?"

"Thank him?" Tails nearly coughed in surprise.

"Without the little brat I would be making half as much money and having half as much fun. Getting fired was the best thing that ever happened to me."

"Thank him yourself," the Mobian insisted, "you're talking to him."

"Ha," the man snorted as he finally reached out his hand to greet the fox, "just my luck. Next tip from me is free. Just ask for Tucker, my friends call me Tucks."

Tails cringed at the breaking of rules he long held sacred. However, he let it pass knowing full well he might need him more in the future.

"If this checks out, I'll be back, you can count on that," Tails said as he unfolded the collar on his coat high around his muzzle and stood to leave.

No one else needed to learn he was back in town.

"Then I suspect I will be seeing you soon. Give the Jonny's my regards."

The fox ignored the human's comments as he followed the darkness into the shadows, retracing his steps to find his way back towards the room where Johnny had brought him. The mysterious man was still sitting there, the faint orange glow of a cigarette illuminating parts of his face.

"Was he of any use?" came the question with a smoky exhale.

"I believe so, but only time will tell."

"Well do make sure to tell," the shadowy figure responded, "I would love a reason to kick him out of here for good."

With a final puff, the man dabbed his cigarette out in a glass ashtray causing the only source of light in the room to die one ember at a time. He was a blunt man, but his toughness was all perception. Beneath his suit he was still a man, a scared one at that. He rarely dealt with Mobians for the sole reason that they could sense his anxiety. That is where his furry friend came into the picture. Each Johnny had his strength. The human had his way with words and perception while the Mobian was equally good at reading people with only a passing glance.

"Are you ready to leave, my friend?" the raccoon's voice came from the stillness behind him, "I can show you out."

Tails nodded, knowing full well that by now either Johnny had more than likely adapted to their home amongst the shade and could see his gestures as if the kit were standing under a spot light. The fox only needed the sound of the Mobian's boots on the hardwood floor to follow.

A cold draft crept up on him as they approached entrance to the back alley.

"People are beginning to ask questions about the mysterious fox, you know," the raccoon said quietly, almost to himself.

"Let them ask," Tails responded, "just so long as no one answers."

"Would it not be easier to give them a false name so they end up chasing their tails?"

The kit admired the choice of words as he paused his pursuit of Johnny, although he could not tell if it was meant to be humorous.

The raccoon turned to face him and calm his concerns, "no names need be used, only the implication of one that does not belong to you. Plenty of the Dominion agents around here fancy themselves a detective. If you don't let them get to the bottom of something, they won't stop prying."

"I recall a certain color of shadow that used to appear during the night," the kit mused. "Perhaps people need to be reminded that legends don't die."

It may have been Fiona's moniker, but he knew he could use it to throw people off his scent. Most were not aware the vixen was captured, or that the fox behind the shadow was a vixen at all. In the late hours of the night his burnt sienna fur could easily be confused with the ruby red that was so often reported.

"Yes," Johnny hissed quietly, "I do believe that could work. Not even I know who that fox is. I trust they will not mind you borrowing it either. Word is that they are dead."

_Don't remind me!_ The kit nearly screamed as he hid his yelp behind a wall of teeth. Tails reached for the handle of the hatch, bracing himself for the cold air that lay in wait on the other side. Its tender touch bristled his fur, making it dance on end as a shiver ran down his body.

"So long my friend," the raccoon whispered to him as he shut the door behind him.

Night's embrace was lonesome and emotionless. _What am I doing here?_ He couldn't help but ask the Johnny who was no longer there. Tails backed away from the door until a pair of gloved hands gave him a nice shove from behind, "watch where you're going pal or you're going to end up hurt."

_I doubt that,_ the fox thought as he turned to face a man over twice his size. _Well… at least not as hurt as you._

The human had little intent on pressing the point as he continued on his path. An odor of gun oil and cheap hair wax wafted in behind to him.

"Dominion," Tails spat softly, but perhaps not softly enough.

The agent who was wearing only plain clothes turned to face the Mobian. The man would be easy pray without his armor, but the Freedom Fighter knew better than to engage in senseless battle.

Tightening the belt and adjusting the collar on his trench coat, Tails turned towards the end of the alley and skulked back to the main road. No Dominion agent in their right mind would fight a Mobian right outside of the Den of Shadows.

"That's right fox, walk away."

_Suit yourself. _The kit had no intention to anything but that. Dominion agents were a dime a dozen, but this one seemed familiar some how. Few he had seen were that big, and the last thing Miles needed was for one of Julian's lap dogs to recognize him.

"Hey, wait just a second," the agent screamed.

Tails dug his heels in the ground, veins pumping with adrenalin, waiting for the glorified copper to make a move.

"I've heard about you."

Fishing a paw beneath his coat, Miles readied his Berretta. The fox's eagerness was becoming hard to contain, his tails swooshing back and forth against the inside of his jacket. Raising his head to acknowledge the sentiment, the kit waited for the man to make his point.

"You're that mysterious fox everyone keeps talking about, the one that doesn't play for anyone."

Tails shrugged as he eased his hand off the pistol. He still couldn't bring himself to face a man he was sure could identify him.

"Are you interested in a job?"

Tails' ears twitched as he searched the agent's voice for an angle, but the man took it as curiosity.

"I just need someone to help me find that two-tailed fox, Miles Prower. The money is good, I promise."

"What makes you think I would," the kit responded gruffly.

"I heard you don't have a side."

"So why would I help yours? I do things for me and me alone."

In this case that couldn't be truer. The idea of identifying himself would only be amusing if he also intended on killing the agent right after doing so. Miles had reluctantly embraced Fiona's outlook, doing things that only benefitted him. He could see how someone on their own had no choice in the matter. It was do or die with no middle ground. If only he hadn't lulled her into a false sense of security with promises of a home, family, and allies.

"Your loss," the tall Dominion agent suggested before hesitating. "Perhaps you would be more interested in a trade?"

"What are you offering?" Miles asked, now slightly more interested in the proposition.

"What do you need?"

"There's a small lab south of the financial district, the address would save me some trouble."

"Half way down Fourth Street. What do you want with that run down little shanty of a place? Nothing is there, I have been there plenty of times."

_So it is you. The pretty boy, _the kit thought as he gleefully retrieved the memory of knocking a Dominion agent out cold with a frying pan. Only one of the Directors guards would have reason to visit that spot so frequently.

"Obliged, and you, what is you want?"

"You're a fox, if you were this Miles Prower fella, where would you be hide'n?"

"He's Resistance. Always in the last place you expect to find him. If I were him though, I probably would want to pretty far from here right now."

A smug satisfaction crept up his muzzle. His pride and honor for the rules demanded he tell the truth, a nothing about what he had just said was false.

"You're not much help are you," Jake said turning back towards the Den of Shadows, "Although I don't know what I was expecting from a Mobian. I mean the last place I expect to find Miles Prower would be standing… right in front of… me."

Already tucked safely into the shadows, the kit was able watch with a grin as the agent spun abruptly to find nothing. The deliberation on the man's face was priceless, the agent trying feverishly to figure out whether or not he had actually been talking to the very fox he was looking for.

"Couldn't have been," the human muttered to himself as he shook his head. "Not even he is that cocky."

* * *

Hello everyone. I have been doing my best to update this story more frequently. I would love to know if there is anything in particular that any of you are looking forward to so that I not only don't overlook it, but also put some extra effort into that area. It's easy to be selfish and write what I want, but I would rather all of you get the most out of this story, so let me know what you're looking forward to.

Feed back, critical or otherwise is always welcome and encouraged.

Cheers,

M.D


	16. Loyalty

The screeching noise her cell door made was one of the most beautiful noises she had ever heard despite offending the fox's ears every second that it pierced the air. The only voice she had taken notice of in months she was slowly beginning to think was nothing more than her imagination. Muray had not said another word that night, or for that matter ever again.

The only interaction that she was ever afforded was the intermittent intervals in which her food was slid through an opening in the door, often when she wanted it the least. Whatever had come for her, she welcomed it.

A soldier clad in armor strolled into her abode and tossed a set of reinforced handcuffs onto the floor between them. It wasn't Jake, but rather some smaller and even more pathetic excuse for a man. In a strange way she missed the company of her original captor, but could never place why.

"Put them on," the overgrown copper demanded.

His voice was familiar, and if she had to guess belonged to one of the guards she knocked out at the director's house.

"Make me," Fiona retorted, trying to goad the man into doing something stupid.

He raised the riffle that had been slung around his back and centered its sites somewhere on her forehead.

"I don't have time for games. Jake warned me about you."

_Jake would have accepted the challenge__,_ she resolved knowing the man's pride meant everything to him. Instead she had to deal with this dull idiot. Perhaps the soldier had forgotten that she was smarter than him.

"I don't think you're allowed to kill me," the vixen said while staring at the fetters.

"Accidents happen."

So you let the Director die and now me, what will Julian think of all these accidents?"

The agent gulped as the fox stepped forward, stopping when she stood over the cuffs.

"Don't worry sweetie," Fiona continued, "I'll put em on. I'm sure wherever your taken me is more fun than this place."

The cold metal wrapped around her wrist, tightening its icy grasp as she closed the restraints. Nothing about imprisoning herself was fun, but at long last she was going to get an idea at where the river was taking her, a peak around the proverbial bend.

Even after she had done all his work for him, the agent still felt the need to impose his authority. The long barrel of a G3 prodded her back repeatedly, forcing the fox to speed up as she walked down the desolate white washed halls. A peek in the adjacent cells did not reveal the bobcat she so desperately hoped to find.

"Move your feet," the human barked through his helmet.

_He assumes me weak__,_ Fiona thought as she did little to correct her deliberately labored pace. The months she had had to herself in the confines of a Dominion cell was not only spent in self reflection, but also improvement. Even in the confined space, the vixen found a way to strengthen every muscle in her body.

"Careful tough guy," the fox replied, "Round two won't end any better for you."

Miles had taught her arrogance. Fiona had always believed in herself, but until she met him, never enough to boast. Now her smug self-confidence was second nature.

"You think jumping a guy in the dead of night counts as a fair fight?"

"Do you think anything you do is fair?" Fiona retorted.

The man didn't respond, apparently bored with the conversation they were having.

At least the agent hadn't bothered to blindfold her. Finally the fox got to take in her surroundings and behold the mysterious interior of the Dominion's HQ. However, that in and of itself suggested that Julian had plans for her, plans that would probably make anything she saw on her journey irrelevant.

When the corridor ended, it was at the base of a large bulkhead. The soldier behind her swiped an access card on a nearby panel and the door before them swung inward on hydraulic hinges. Fiona was scared, but too proud to admit or show it. Only another Mobian would be able to detect her dilating pupils, increased heart rate, and perspiration.

The room, if it could be called that, was large and empty. The vixen suspected that this was not a prison, but rather a chamber for more heinous things.

"Alright boss," the Dominion agent said passively, "I got the fox. What do you want me to do with it now?"

_It,_ Fiona thought with a sigh. She was no longer sure why it even surprised her.

"Good now remove the fox's restraints," a voice so chilling Fiona's fur stood on end echoed from speakers overhead.

The vixen had only heard this particular man's voice twice before in her life, but once would have sufficed.

"Kintobor," Fiona whispered as she walked towards the center of the room looking for any hint of the rotund man.

"I'm sorry, Sir?"

"Agent Palzwik, I don't like to repeat myself. Free the fox. "

The soldier reluctantly reached for his belt and found the key to the cuffs. Rather than risk coming within range of the vixen's grasp he tossed them to her waiting paws.

She disliked the sensation of metal against her skin and relished in the feeling of relief that removing the fetters brought. When the steel chains hit the ground a light flickered on behind a thick pane of glass. Julian stood on the other side, studying her intently with his beady red eyes through his tiny red spectacles.

"I like having the best on my team," Kintobor began. "But there is only room for one more."

"Sir?" The agent responded in an alarmed tone as he turned to face the glass.

No doubt the soldier was confused by the notion that a Mobian was somehow eligible for his job.

"You should be happy Palzwik, I'm giving you a second chance. Normally I rid myself of incompetence and move on with my life. Your partner Tucker was kind enough to do that for me."

"Tucker? What did you do to him?" the soldier demanded as the large door slammed shut trapping him in the room with the fox.

"I didn't do anything to him," the fat man answered, "because I didn't need to. Paramedics found him dead in his apartment. A self-induced overdose. Smart man if you ask me. He knew the consequences and took the easy way out. I am happy to liberate myself of someone who doesn't have the strength to fight."

Fiona began to circle around her enemy. She could see where this was going and Palzwik was too engrossed in conversation to notice her advance.

"So Tucker wasn't lying," the soldier spat, clearly disgusted with his leader. "You just throw us out when you're done with us. What kind of loyalty is that? I have devoted years of my life to your organization, to your cause, and this is how you thank me?"

"You act as if you have done me favors. The only things you have managed to do is disappoint me. When you signed up, I warned you that I do not tolerate failure. What did you suspect would happen if you made a mistake? Certainly not forgiveness I hope?"

"How about respect?" the agent bargained. "And what about Jake? He just gets to go free?"

"No, no of course not. I have a much more unusual punishment lined up for him. Someone so young, energetic, and devoted has boundless potential, but he must first be taught his place. I suspect a man with principles as strong as his will find his penalty even worse than death."

"Death?" the armored man gulped.

"Relax Palzwik. All you have to do is kill the fox. I'm a man of my word. The survivor will join me in my endeavors."

The way the dominion agent turned around suggested he wasn't even concerned about the task at hand. After all, why should he have been? The human was clad in armor from head to toe and armed with an automatic. Killing a defenseless Mobian in an open room with no cover or escape would be like shooting fish in a barrel, or at least so he thought.

When Palzwik turned to face his prisoner, he was surprised to find nothing but empty space. The vixen had woven herself around the outside of his vision. While helmets were bullet proof, they did cut down on the peripheral senses. However, he no longer needed those to know where the fox was.

"Shit," he muttered right before Fiona grabbed him from behind. With such heavy armor, the fox knew her only hope was to wrestle the riffle away from him. As the two adversaries fought for control of the weapon, one of their fingers found the trigger causing the G3 to spray its 7.62mm rounds randomly around the enclosed space.

Out of the corner of her eye she could see Julian duck as a bullet buried itself in the glass he was standing behind. With the gun now empty, the two combatants quickly switched tactics. Fiona reached for the man's holster hoping to come up with his sidearm. He on the other hand tried to land a blow with the butt of his gun, missing her as she ducked low. When her paws found the grip she rolled backwards brandishing her newly acquired pistol with pride.

Even though the vixen was now armed and free to kill the human, actually doing it was another matter all together. The first round out of the Smith & Weston hit the agent square in the chest, but he didn't even flinch.

"9s wont even scratch it," echoed inside her head as she remembered Tails words from outside the Director's house.

Sadly, that was proving to be true. Subsequent shots didn't even blemish the steel and did nothing to slow the man's advance. Having tried shooting him almost everywhere, the vixen centered the beads of the sights on his visor and pulled the trigger. It might not have broken the glass, but it still cracked it, severely obscuring the agent's vision.

When the sound of Fiona's weapon clicking helplessly permeated the air, Palzwik peeled of his helmet revealing a stern forlorn face. He was older than she suspected, which explained why he acted so cautiously. The man was a veteran and had probably already experienced all of the mistakes that younger more cocky agent like Jake was still learning first hand. Even if he wasn't as strong, his experience made him every bit as dangerous.

Somehow she was able to block his first right cross, catching his fists in her paws, but a lightening quick left jab to her stomach sent her to the ground as air rushed from her lungs.

Looking up from her knees and gasping for oxygen, she couldn't help but think Palzwik appeared much taller now. His foot approached quickly and with far too much force to block. The blow sent her across the room onto her back. Round two was not going well, and in a fight to the death, the vixen suspected there wouldn't be a third for her to come back in.

Fiona had dealt with Dominion agents before, but rarely when they were wearing this much armor. Tails had always been there to help her. _What would Miles do__?_ She thought.

A new dose of adrenalin slowed the world down to a mere standstill. Her fight or flight reflex had finally kicked in, and with nowhere to run there was but just one option.

The soldier's next kick was meant to crush her skull, and it would have if his steel boot had connected with her head. However, the fox was able to slide effortlessly out of the way and rebound to her feet with a handspring. Palzwik's foot found the ground with a thud and before he could recover, an enraged fox was already making moves to capitalize on his out of balance position.

Wedging her boot behind his, the fox pushed with all her might into the case hardened steel that enclosed his chest in effort to trip him. The man felt solid, but slowly momentum gave way to gravity as he fell backwards. A Dominion agent on his back was scarcely more effective than a turtles on its shell. Palzwik floundered on the floor, trying to dig one of his limbs into a position of power, but the suit prevented him from generating the necessary leverage to stand up with a fox on his chest.

Fiona brought a fist high and then let it fall without mercy. Surprisingly, the man's face felt nearly as hard as his armor, but it still spouted blood. Even more of the red liquid appeared when she struck him a second time, and slowly the soldier's confidence, resolve, and energy diminished. The look in his eyes told her that he was defeated, but Fiona knew she couldn't stop there.

Having taken the fight out of her enemy the vixen moved her claws to the bare skin on his throat. A ferocious swipe produced three lines of crimson that quickly turned into rivers. The gashes were deep, so deep that Fiona knew nothing else needed to be done. She removed her blood soaked paws from the Dominion agent as he burped up crimson saliva, coughing as his lungs filled with the liquid instead of air.

_I warned you,_ she thought.

Fiona wanted to put him out of his misery, but instead she sat there and watched the life slowly drain from him. It felt sickening, but something told her this would not be the last time she would have to watch someone die.

"Four," she whispered to herself, disregarding Tails advice.

The vixen would count every single one of them until she was forced to add herself to the growing number.

"You had me worried for a moment," a familiar voice arose from behind her, no longer distorted by the speakers.

The red fox did not need to turn around to know that a monster was standing over her.

"But it is always nice to know I made the right decision," Julian continued. "I was relying on your victory."

She couldn't see why the one true enemy of Mobian was not only rooting for, but even hedging his plans on her victory. Then it occurred to Fiona, _I was meant to be his executioner_. It was her test, a test that had no right answer, just a result, and thankfully she had passed.

_What kind of twisted person thinks like this?_

Palzwik had been a loyal soldier, but Julian threw him out like garbage Apparently the dictator was too weak to even do the dirty work himself. _What will he do with me when I am of no use?_ She couldn't help but wonder.

It made her sick to think that she was just a pawn in a game she had no control of or even see, now being used for far worse purposes than she could have imagined.

The agent beneath her had been still for several second before she thought to reach out and close his eyes. Enemy or not he deserved at least this basic reverence. Heavy footsteps approached, but Fiona could barely manage to stand, let alone face what she now suspected was her new boss.

_What have I gotten myself into?_

It was hard to determine how far she was willing to go to see Miles again. Unsure if she would be able to live with herself for the soulless creature she was about to become. Love knew no bounds or obstacles, but it was seldom discussed what happened to those who got in its way, intentionally or not.

"While some people such as Palzwik, here, pride themselves on their loyalty, I laugh at it. What a waste of meaningless emotion. You Fiona, do what's best for you, which I can respect because it is precisely what I do."

Fiona's stomach churned as the man compared her to himself. However, she could not help but notice the two most powerful people she had met in her life only lived for themselves.

_Am I destined for great things?_ She asked herself. _Or __at least __was__ I__?_ She quickly corrected.

"The problem has always been that I can't rely on others to put my interest before their own. But you see, I believe I have found a way to align what's best for you and what's best for me perfectly."

The vixen had no idea how anyone could willingly take this man's ideals to heart, but she had a strange feeling there would be little choice in the matter. Slowly, she turned to face the dictator whom had his arms resting behind his back.

"It's quite simple really. I provide an incentive like no other you have ever had. You will not like my directions, but you follow them because it will be the only way to get what you want."

_You have no idea what I want._

Fiona was shivering in fear. A man she had dreams of killing was now within reach, but she was too scared to move so much as a solitary muscle. Her instincts told her to run, to fight, to do anything but just stand there. Yet all the red fox was able to do was watch as Julian produced a metallic collar.

Despite having just watched her kill one of his prized Dominion soldiers, Kintobor confidently reached down with his bare hands to fasten the device around her neck. When it clicked into place she knew she was helpless. Julian had claimed her as his own, made her a slave, but to what extent she could not yet tell.

"Pets often get lost without their collars," the fat man laughed, "but with this there will never be a question in your mind about who you belong to or what the right decision is, because one will let you live and the other will not."

Her paws crept up her shoulders and found the cold steel, tugging at it helplessly the vixen let out a small whimper. The metal around her wrist had been uncomfortable enough, but she had a strange feeling this was even more permanent. The look in her eyes must have suggested the question she was too frightened to ask.

"It doesn't come off, and I wouldn't even recommend that you try. It's tamperproof and not even that pesky two tailed friend of yours will be able to do anything about it."

"What does it do," Fiona asked even though she was quite sure she didn't want to know.

"It's linked with my vitals," the egg shaped man answered.

"So if you die…" the vixen began, trying desperately to hide the look of horror on her face.

"Boom!" he exclaimed while expanding his hands outward in a grand animated gesture.

The velvet fox swallowed a pang of trepidation. She now shared a life the man she despised most. No matter how much hatred she felt toward him or his ideas, Fiona would have to protect them or risk losing her own life, and with it, any chance of seeing Miles again.

"Welcome to the Dominion," he cackled in a low menacing voice.

The fox had lost the will to speak.

"And just in case you're curious," Julian continued as he knelt over Palzik and tore the Dominion sigil from the chain around the dead man's neck," me dyeing isn't the only way to set that off."

Fiona hadn't been curious, she had been terrified.

"You're probably going to need this," Kintobor exclaimed as he flung the badge at her. "You won't get very far without it. Luckily for you, there isn't a person in this country who would dare disrespect that symbol."

_I can think of a few._

"As you just learned, I have no tolerance for failure. Slip up even just once and…" Kintobor began as he removed a small remote from the pocket of his red jacket, "Boom!" he said with a grin for the second time that night, mimicking his prior hand motions.

Seeing that she understood her dire predicament, Kintobor stepped over Palzwik as he made his way back to the open door, waddling across the blood stained floor. Fiona could do nothing but stand and watch his large figure shrink only slightly in stature he neared the exit. Just as the round man reached the door, he paused and looked over his shoulder, "Aren't you coming?"

Fiona had no intention of going anywhere with him, but because he had just strapped a bomb to her neck she was not about to make him ask again. Padding along at his side, the vixen felt as if she had hit a new low in her life. Julian had put her on a leash, collar and all. In the past she had only been Ixis' metaphorical pet, serving him because it suited her, but this maniac had taken things to a new level.

"I'll see to it that you get an access card," Kintobor said nonchalantly as he swiped his own to enter the elevator, "Now that you're Dominion there is no shortage of secrets for you to learn, so there is no reason to hide them from you."

"You're not afraid of me telling anyone?" she asked curiously.

"Treason counts as failure," the man responded bluntly as he palmed the tiny remote control. "And don't think I won't know. I always know."

"Why?" she finally blurted out. The question had nothing to do with what he was talking about, but Kintobor understood it all the same.

"You said it yourself, I need someone like you, someone that can think like my enemy and even walk amongst them. I am not the type of person to pass up on such an opportunity. And with a recent vacancy I thought you would be the perfect candidate."

Circumstance was just as much her enemy as it was her savior. However, his answer only grazed the surface of the question she was really asking.

As they stepped onto the elevator, she repeated herself, "why?"

Strangely enough he still understood.

"A fair question I suppose. Think about it from a human perspective. Talking animals! What kind of genetic farce is that? As a scientist, it made no sense to me. You shouldn't exist. Mother Nature had its laugh but forgot to clean up after itself. The sad part is that my kin appears to be content with being second class citizens. Mobians are stronger, faster, smarter, and more adapted to most of the environment than Homosapiens. It is only a matter of time before your species figures that out and takes advantage of the situation."

"So you feel threated by us?" was the only questions that she let escape her mouth.

The others would have surely gotten her killed. _Were humans not once nothing more than an animal incapable of speech the same as the rest of us?_ _How can he assume his species to be greater than another when he openly admits evolution no longer favors it?_ No matter how hard she tried, her brain would not allow her to warp the world enough to see things from his point of view.

"Me, feel threatened? No. But the rest of my constituents should."

_That's because you poison their minds with lies. _

"So you plan to kill us?"

The president chuckled, "I have taken it upon myself to save us from what would otherwise be our downfall. In reality my species doesn't deserve this planet. They're all too weak and stupid to see it, but I refuse to let them sell out those of us that do. I will cure the spread of cancer that is your race one Mobian at a time all the while elevating my species to places no one thought possible. When I am done, things will be as they once were, and you and your woodland kin will know its place in the order of things."

_The source of the fanatics,_ Fiona thought. His insanity was undeniable, but buried in it somewhere was the logic that drove him. The man was afraid her, afraid of Mobians, but it was that fear that made him strong. At the very least she could relate to that.

* * *

Feedback anyone?

Cheers,

M.D


	17. From the Shadows

The glow of a blank screen stared back at him as he drifted lazily in and out of consciousness. Jake had been hunting Miles Prower for almost three months now with nothing to show for himself.

"Why did you have to let him get away in the first place, Jake?" the agent asked himself quietly.

Many would have considered Kintobor's reaction to his failure tame, but Jake was having trouble seeing it that way. The president had stripped him of his badge and title, reducing him right back down to the rank of a normal copper.

"If you're as good as you think you are, then you won't have any problem earning this back," Kintobor had said as he plopped Jake's beloved Dominion badge into his desk drawer.

He met this challenge like he did all others, head on. However, what he failed to understand initially was just how illusive the fox was, and for that matter any member of the Freedom Fighters. What immediately became clear was that the Dominion was only able to apprehend members of the Resistance by defending hardened points. Julian had fortified what was left of his empire, forcing the rodents to come to him. Any attempt at locating the Mobian forces however, was futile, if not deadly.

His presence in the down town precinct did not go unnoticed; especially after all of the coppers learned what he used to be. Their snickers and snide comments filled the hallways, but no one ever bothered to say anything to his face. Jake was determined to show them how pitifully easy their job was all while locating a notorious two-tailed fox.

The first part had been easy enough. Doing a week's worth of what a copper called work could be accomplished in as little as a day, leaving him plenty of time for his own. That is however, where he came up empty every time.

For all of the information that Julian had on Miles Prower, not single piece of it was useful. Fragments that made up an enigma were scarcely more useful than a single grain of sand on a beach. Jake struggled to build an accurate profile of the Mobian consisting of anything more than a physical description.

An audit of the kit's hacking techniques only served to show him how little he knew about computers. Strat and Opps had already repeatedly told him there were no patterns to speak of, but Jake was not one to believe something without seeing it for himself. Within just a day he knew he was in over his head as he tried to follow the fox's handiwork. Code ticked across the screen while the agent massaged his temple hoping something somewhere would jump out at him.

Miles could break apart computer security like it was made of tissue paper. Some his attacks were so fundamentally simple Jake audibly laughed at their rousing success. Other times the kit would bounce code off of satellites and halfway around the world just because he could. Not a single method Jake stumbled across was ever the same in even the slightest way, which meant there was no way to track him in real time.

Other hackers could be caught in just a few days. They would make the mistake of thinking they found an exploit. However, more often than not the Dominion simply left them open and tracked those who used it, only sealing the loophole once the perpetrator was caught. The fox however, knew better.

Blinking brought the text on the screen back in focus. The kit's attack on Julian's offshore accounts was by far his best handiwork yet. The fox had managed to trick the bank into giving up the authorization code one character at a time through a well-executed brute force attack. A system that was supposed to be foolproof ended up turning on itself as it unknowingly handing Miles Prower one character of the password with each request. Synchronized pings sent to the server were all returned with an error code, the problem was that the error would specify the first incorrect character in the string, meaning that with enough attempts it would be possible to fully reconstruct the password. In less than thirty seconds the witty fox had his way with Kintobor's money, dispersing it to god knows where.

_Perhaps,_ he thought after weeks of analyzing these attacks, _this is not the best way to go about this._

It was hard for him to admit defeat, but harder still for him to admit that he was wasting time, something the shift commander liked to remind him of regularly.

"Jake," the man's voice sounded from behind him, "I see you're still sitting right where I left you yesterday. Care to do any real work today?"

Without bothering to waste his breath, the former Dominion agent grabbed a stack of papers and held them out for the copper to review.

"You expect me to believe you made four arrest in one day?" the man snorted in doubt.

"They're still in holding if you want to go meet them. Lovely bunch, I assure you."

"Six speeding tickets? Four of which were motorcycles? How exactly did you catch those little buggers?"

"Hard for them to go anywhere with holes in their tires," Jake commented snidely with a big grin on his face.

"You could be making a real difference in this city, Jake, and instead of going out there and doing this again, you sit in here looking for what?"

"Miles Prower," he answered confidently.

"And how's that going?"

"Do you care?"

"Not really," the man answered as threw the stack of papers back on Jakes desk. "But don't you think you would be a little better off doing this the old fashioned way? You don't strike me as the technical type."

Jake hit the escape key with almost enough force to break the plastic molding. The agent was willing to try almost anything at this point.

"What are you suggesting?"

"I am suggesting you walk around and ask questions. It's kind of hard to get answers if you don't ask. If you can form a sentence half as well as you can shoot the tires out of a moving vehicle then you might have a chance at learning something."

Perhaps this man was not aware that fox he was after was not well known for conversing with anyone that would talk to a Dominion agent.

"Right, I suppose I could just walk down to the Barn Yard and strike up a conversation with one of those Mobians. I mean they all know each other right? I sure they would probably tell me everything too."

The shift commander sighed, "You're too stubborn for your own good. I can't help you if you already think know everything."

"So now you're trying to help me?"

"I'll take any opportunity I get to put a Dominion agent in his place," the man retorted as he scribbled something on a piece of paper. "Go here and try not to make a total ass out of yourself. Perhaps you can talk daddy Kintobor into giving you some spending cash to make things a little easier…he certainly isn't giving us any."

Jake took the note and read it over with a quick glance, "Never heard of this place before."

"Doesn't surprise me. A goody two shoes such as yourself wouldn't want to be caught dead in there, but then again you aren't all that special anymore are you? A little more red ink on your record wont hurt if it's covered up with gold stars when you're done, right?"

The man's smug attitude was beginning to get on Jake's nerves, "What makes you so sure that I can find Miles here?"

"I doubt you will find him there, but you might stumble across someone who knows more than the nothing you do."

With that, the shift commander got to his feet and left Jake to his thoughts.

As he looked out the window, a cloud covered night sky reminded Jake how much time he had invested into trying to locate a Mobian that more closely resembled a ghost than a fox.

Pulling the black leather jacket off the back of his chair, Jake swung it around his arms before retrieving his gun from a desk drawer. Unfolding his collar to hide his expression he made his way through the hallway, past faces that were fast becoming familiar. He could feel their pity, but shrugged it off as he arrived at the icy steps outside.

Kintobor may have stripped him of his badge, but he refused to let the man take away his purpose. Removing the slip of paper from his pocket, Jake rounded a corner into a more suspicious part of town. The few street lamps that there were had either burned out or been used as target practice. It certainly fit the location for a place called the Den of Shadows. How it had remained open in the Dominion's backyard he wasn't sure.

_So where is this place?_ The agent asked himself as he stumbled into someone much shorter than himself.

"Watch where you're going pal, or you're going to end up hurt," Jake shouted over his should without paying much mind to the Mobian he had nearly tripped over.

"Dominion," the creature spat with a large helping of distain.

"That's right, fox, just walk away!" he replied knowing full well he wasn't meant to hear the Mobian's curse.

Months of digging through intelligence reports had afforded him a unique edge in his knowledge of the underground. More than one informant had mentioned a shady fox that was prowling the city streets without any form of allegiance. Some insisted it was the return of the Red Shadow, but Jake knew better. Only a black tipped nose protruded from the shadows enclosing the Mobian's muzzle.

"Hey!" Jake called after shady fellow. "Wait just a second."

The fox stopped, only tilting his head far enough to glare at him with one of his golden eyes.

"I've heard about you," the agent said passively, watching as the Mobian shifted uneasily on his feet. "You're that mysterious fox everyone keeps talking about, the one that doesn't play for anyone. Are you interested in a job?"

The creature's ears twitched, suggesting that his interested may have been peaked.

"I just need someone to help me find that two-tailed fox, Miles Prower. The money is good, I promise."

"What makes you think I would," the Mobian replied in a harsh voice.

"I heard you don't have a side."

"So why would I help yours? I do things for me, and me alone!"

"Your loss," Jake announced with some disappointment. "Perhaps you would be more interested in a trade?"

His ears twitched again as he turned a little further to face the agent.

"What are you offering?"

"What do you need?"

"There's a small lab south of the financial district, the address would save me some trouble."

_What the hell could he want that place for? It's a useless warehouse with nothing but cobwebs in it. _

"Half way down Fourth Street. What do you want with that run down little shanty of a place? Nothing is there, I have been there plenty of times."

"Obliged, and you, what is you want?" the shadowy figure asked.

"You're a fox, if you were this Miles Prower fella, where would you be hide'n?"

"He's Resistance," the fox said confidently, "He will always in the last place you expect to find him. If I were him though, I probably would want to pretty far from here right now."

It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure that out. Jake had always assumed that Miles would be halfway around the country skulking about until some of the heat he had stirred up died down.

"You're not much help are you," Jake replied as he turned back towards the darken end of the alley, "Although I don't know what I was expecting from a Mobian."

_Although__hiding on the west coast is__ first place I would expect to find him._

"I mean the last place I expect to find Miles Prower," Jake continued aloud, "would be standing… right in front of… me."

Turning as quickly as he could the agent spun to find nothing where once stood a three and a half foot Mobian. _Where did he go?_

As he thought about it more, the man realized he had never gotten all that good of a look at the shady figure, and with such a long coat, the fox could have had any number of tails.

"Couldn't have been," Jake said aloud to reassure himself. "Not even he is that cocky."

Miles Prower was a lot of things, but surely he wasn't stupid enough to return to the scene of his crimes and prance around in plain sight. Despite his best efforts he couldn't get the fox out of his mind as he walked further into the darkness.

_If that was him, why hasn't anyone else seen him?_

"You look a little lost there, my friend," a voice announced from the shadows.

The orange glow of a cigarette temporarily illuminated the hardened stubble of middle aged man's face as he took a long drag. The blackened outlines around the strangers eyes suggested he hadn't slept in weeks, if not longer, but his coherence was staggering."

"Looking for shady place," Jake said suggestively.

"Look no further," the man replied as he tapped on the wall at his back, "but I am going to need to see some credentials first."

Jake pulled back his jacket to reveal the copper badge on his belt.

To his surprise, the man began to chuckle, "Surely you don't think we let ordinary coppers in without an invitation. Do you have an invitation?"

Out of all the places he expected to receive a reminder of his demotion, this was not one of them. His shift commander had made it seem like a house of low lifes, but in reality it was starting to seem like there was more to it. Fishing for the chain he had worn around hi neck for the last twelve years of his life, Jake removed his father's Dominion badge beneath his shirt.

Julian could take away his badge, but he could never take away the one that his father earner with his sacrifices. The agent carried it as a reminder of what he had devoted his life to, to what he hoped to live up to.

"Will this work?" Jake asked sourly, "or are you going to need something more?"

"No, no, that should do just fine. I meant no disrespect, but we often find that those without Kintobor financial backing lack discretionary funds to pay up and cause more trouble than they are worth. May I ask what has brought you here tonight?"

"I am looking for some information."

"Aren't we all," the man replied with an out stretched hand, "The name's Johnny, I run the place."

Jake only stared at his stark white flesh as it broke the seal of obscurity. He knew better than to be friendly with this sort of person.

"Right," Johnny replied as he withdrew his greeting, "Just remember the rules," the man added as he turned to knock on a steel door.

_The rules? What kind of place is this?_

Step by step Jake descended the gloom filled room before him and slowly he undertook a new appreciation for darkness. Soon the space opened up into a series of tables that lined the walls.

The wooden floorboards creaked underneath his boots, laced seemingly with trepidation. The further he went the more the blackness consumed him and when his vision had finally all but faded, the agent sat himself down in the outskirts of the room.

"It's been a while," a familiar voice sounded from across the table.

_There is someone else here?__ I can't see anything in this damn place._

Jake hadn't meant to approach anyone so soon, least of all anyone he knew. All he had wanted to do was get a chance to observe.

"Tucker?" the Dominion agent asked aloud, trying his luck at identifying the familiar tone.

A wry smile lined with yellow teeth against an otherwise solid backdrop, "So you do remember me. I was beginning to think you forgot about your old squad mates."

"What are you doing here?"

"This is my new place of business. It's a little shady, but I am starting to think of it as home. The better question is what is daddy's golden boy doing here?"

"I am looking for a two-tailed fox."

The man burst into laughter, "Of course you are. What else would you be doing with your time off? Why are you so desperate to claw your way to Julian?"

Jake didn't expect him to understand, this was a matter of pride. Tucker had never cared about much of anything beside himself.

"Do you know anything about Miles Prower?" the Dominion agent asked again, more firmly this time.

"That depends, how many credits do you have?"

"What will a thousand buy me?

Tucker roared with laughter again, "A thousand? I wouldn't even tell you what I had for breakfast this morning for that pitiful offering."

"What? C'mon man that's all I got."

"Julian didn't give you any spending money? Do you have any idea how much information like that is worth? I have already made fifty thousand tonight and all I had to do was give up that run down little shack over on fourth."

"I barely make that in a year," Jake mumbled as he thought about the very same secret he had just given away for free to the fox outside.

_Is that a coincidence?_

"Tell me about it. This is the life man. I am not sure why I ever bothered working for that fat sack of shit."

"Kintobor didn't give me any credits, he doesn't know I am here," Jake admitted, "I am on my own here, c'mon Tucker, help out an old friend. "

"Look, even if I knew where this fox was, I wouldn't tell you. Don't take it personally, but I don't see why you're special to him. Julian tried to have me killed, and I think he may have already gotten to Palzwik."

"Palzwik? What did he do to him?"

"I don't know. He said Kintobor invited him back to work and that was the last I heard of him. So whatever you did to kiss his ass, you can just keep doing that and hope he doesn't change his mind, but don't expect any help from me."

"I didn't think making up for my mistakes was kissing anyone's ass."

"Do you really think we messed up that bad? How were we supposed to deal with those foxes?"

"It's our job," Jake replied reluctantly recalling how helpless he had felt during his encounter with the two-tailed kit.

"He tried to kill me," Tucker reiterated, "and I am not talking about Miles. At least I can understand why the fox would. As far as I am concerned that sorry slob deserves what ever those animals have planned for him. I have been starting to think they were not so wrong after all."

" Tucker, I asked nicely the first time, I won't be so kind the second. Tell me what you know about the fox."

"You haven't changed a bit. Right to force when finesse doesn't work. I thought I made it pretty clear I don't know anything," Tucker shrugged unconvincingly.

The Dominion agent had heard enough, reaching for his gun he cocked back the hammer as he trained it on his former squad mate.

The junkie chuckled in low voice, "You haven't been here before have you? Do you even know the rules?"

Jake wasn't sure he cared about the rules, but he let Tucker continue anyway, "Put it away before someone see you or you wont walk out of here alive. The last person who threatened someone in this place ended up in five separate landfills."

Cautiously, Jake retuned his pistol to its home, being careful not let its glimmer catch the light as he slid it back under the table and out of site. He had to admit he liked his limbs attached to his body. His Shift Commander hadn't bothered to tell him about the rules and neither had Johnny. _Is this some kind of joke?_

"You're out of your element. Stick to what you're good at and go break stuff," Tucker added sympathetically as he got up from the table. "And give the fat man my regards."

He knew he didn't belong here, he had already proven that twice tonight, but Jake felt there was something still to gain by being there. Staring quietly out into the dark room, the agent watched as silhouettes moved silently from place to place. A set of glowing green eyes approached slowly, growing in size until they were seated across from him.

"Can I help you?" Jake asked in an annoyed tone.

"I thinks it should be me asking you that question, seeing that it is you in my establishment, breaking my rules," a raccoon replied in a dull emotionless voice.

_A Mobian runs this place?_

"I thought Johnny ran this place?"

"Who do you think you're talking to?"

He was convinced the bushy eyed critter was trying to play a trick on him. The Mobian was older, but there was a stern look about him that Jake was rather her sure he didn't want to cross.

"Okay, Johnny, perhaps you can help me then?" the Dominion agent asked, playing along with the notion that this creature was somehow in charge.

"I doubt that."

Removing his father's Dominion badge, Jake flashed the crimson sigil again.

"That might get you in, but it doesn't buy you anything," Johnny responded unfazed by the emblem that so often stuck fear into his kind.

"And what might?"

"We make trades here. You want information, you have to offer up something of equal or greater value."

"I have money," Jake assured the Mobian.

"One thousand credits is barely enough to bribe me to let you back in here the next time. You are going to need at least ten times that to get someone to speak up about anything meaningful these days. "

_Who has this kind of cash on them?_

"Did your employer not give you money?" the shadowy figure asked.

_What is Kintobor's involvement here? What's he doing associating with someone like this?_

"No, Julian doesn't even know I am here. Why does everyone keep assuming that he sent me?

Johnny grimaced at the mention of the man's name, or possibly it was the agent's ignorance.

"You're new here, aren't you? Has no one told you the rules?"

He shook his head in response.

"No names, no violence, and no lies. I will try to look over the incident I witnessed earlier in light of you naiveté, but I wont tolerate a second slip up from you."

Jake did not particularly enjoy being threated, by a Mobian no less. Meeting the raccoon's gaze head on, the agent sized up his opponent. There was nothing particularly threatening about him, but Jake had a feeling the creature's bite was far worse than his bark.

"Now how is that I can help you Mr…?" Johnny asked inquisitively.

"I thought you said no names?"

"We learn quick," the raccoon chuckled. "Very good."

"I am looking for Miles Prower," the agent announced, perhaps too loudly.

The room got quieter, even thought Jake was quiet sure it was silent to begin with. Upon hearing the name, the Mobian hesitated slightly with a glimmer in his eyes, but did his best to play it off. Aside from breaking things, Jake was very good at reading people. Not even the Red Shadow could lie to him, so he didn't see any reason to let Johnny get away with it.

"I am afraid I can not help you with that, my friend."

"I think you can," Jake insisted. "You know him, don't you?"

"I know of the fox yes, but surely you must know there are people that you do not cross?"

"What makes you so sure that I am not one of those people?" Jake asked curtly.

"I would have heard of you," the Raccoon responded, still unshaken by the Dominion agent's subtle threats. "Perhaps you're mistaking me for someone who can sell you information? I simply arrange the transaction."

"Then whom can I speak with?"

Johnny smiled and with a wave of his hand he summoned silhouette from across the room. A tall slender man in grungy suit approached the booth and tucked himself tightly into the seat next to Johnny.

_Is this the same guy from the door?_

"Johnny?" Jake asked confused now.

"Yes," they both responded in unison.

_I should have known__,__ they have the same name. What kind of __game__ is this?_

"My compatriot tells me you're looking for someone rather special," the mysterious man began.

He nodded. Confusion was starting to set it. Jake hadn't seen them exchange a word. _Who are these guys?_ The agent was starting to feel in over his head for one of the first times in his life. _I am out of my element,_ Jake finally admitted to himself.

"I don't think there is anyone who will be able to provide you with that type of information. However, there is someone else here who is interested in the same fox. Perhaps you would like to speak with them to see if you can assists each other?"

_Who else could possibly be looking for Miles __Prower__? _

The fox was not someone most people went looking for. Only members of Jake's former team might be compelled to seek out the Mobian in hopes of redeeming themselves, but from what he knew now, most of them were dead.

"Can I ask who I would be meeting with?"

"What do you think?" the man answered in a way that suggested the answer. "Did my partner not go over the rules with you?"

Jake gulped, "Sure, I'll talk with him."

_What harm could there be?_

"Very well," Johnny responded as the man motioned for him to follow him.

Jake had seen plenty of dark places in his life, but it was starting to seem if they had found a way to amplify the effect. Reaching out his hands, the Dominion agent felt around blindly as he traversed the room to another booth in the opposite corner. He could barely makes out the motions indicating he should sit.

Sliding himself as far into the shadows as he could, Jake waited nervously for a sound. When it came, it was not what he was expecting. Johnny coughed suggestively, still waiting at the end of the table.

Reluctantly Jake reached into his pocket and fished out a large helping of cash, holding it out for the man to take.

"Let us know if we can be of any more assistance," the mysterious figure said as he vanished from sight.

With aspirations far greater than most of his peers, Jake never had much time for dates. He imagined this is what they felt like, waiting in awkward silence for the other person to say something. The difference was, he had no idea if there was even someone sitting across from him. His instincts told him there was, but the bleakness ran thicker in this part of the building.

"So…" he began, "I hear we are looking for the same person."

"Looks that way," came a nasally response.

Jake froze in a fear so solid he wasn't sure if he would move again. The voice was so distinctive anyone would recognize it from the vids on the telecasts.

_Why is he look__ing__ for Miles!?_ he thought, but couldn't bring himself to ask. _And why would anyone let him in here! He could kill us all in the blink of an eye!_

"What have you managed to figure out," the hedgehog asked?

All of his words were still stuck somewhere down by his stomach. Jake had only heard stories about Sonic, and had hoped and prayed that the day would never come when he got to meet him. Countless Dominion agents had fallen to the quilled creature's bare hands alone.

"Not much," Jake finally eked out in voice slathered in fear. "His hacking signature is too unique to track."

"You understand all that technical crap?" the hedgehog asked nonchalantly, as if they were friends.

"Not really," the agent admitted as the fear he harbored for the Mobian abated, "but I was running out of options. How about you, any luck?"

"I wouldn't be sitting here if I knew any more than you I suppose."

Jake couldn't figure out what the Resistance was doing looking for one of its own.

_They sent Sonic after him!_

The kit was clearly operating on his own now, and the Freedom Fighters didn't seem to like that. Rouge agents could be very dangerous if captured, but Miles wasn't making things easy for anyone, Resistance or Dominion.

_I wonder what Kintobor would give me if I brought him this hedgehog_? Jake couldn't help but think. _Surely that would make up for everything and h__e__ seems harmless in here._

It occurred to him that the respect for the rules at the Den of Shadows ran deeper than he imagined. Anything that could tame a beast as fearsome as Sonic the Hedgehog was of no small magnitude. Reaching down slowly to his holster, Jake felt around for his weapon, but found nothing but an empty leather strap.

"A Sig Sauer," the hedgehog said light heartedly. "Good choice. Nice balance to them," Sonic said as he put the pistol on the table between them. "Granted I prefer something with a little more bang."

All of his anxiety came back at once. He hadn't heard, felt, or seen anything and yet he had been robbed of his weapon. Jake stared at its sleek black metal frame for far too long. He knew there was no way he could grab it before the fastest thing alive.

"So why are you after him?" Sonic asked, still as casual as he had been.

_I am a Dominion agent, isn't that reason enough?_

"Is it really that surprising?" the man responded.

"Actually it is. Generally none of you have thick enough skulls to go and do something this stupid."

"You know what's surprising to me?" Jake asked, now annoyed that we was being called stupid by a pointy nosed weasel.

"That I am looking from him? It surprises me too, but orders are orders."

"What did he do?"

"Honestly," Sonic admitted, "I have no idea, but I think it has something to do with that fox you guys took from him."

_I knew it! _The Dominion agent thought in a moment of pride before realizing that he was in fact wrong. _The Red Shadow was telling the truth, the Resistance doesn't know anything about her.__ Miles just wants revenge__ for taking her__._

"I wouldn't get in his way if I were you," the hedgehog continued. "Tails isn't one for giving up and if I can't find him…" Sonic trailed off.

His thought returned quickly to the Mobian he had met outside. _How many foxes without an allegiance can there be?__ Perhaps finding him won't be so hard after all._

"You don't think I can?" Jake asked, accepting the challenge.

The Mobian chuckled like a child, "You should be worried about what happens when you do… or better yet when he finds you."

"I can handle myself."

"How many times have you said his name aloud tonight?"

Jake had to think, but couldn't come up with a solid answer.

"The reason the no name rule exists is for your own protection. Miles isn't the type of person to let someone sit on his tails for very long. I would be looking over my shoulder if I were you, because there is no more sneaking up on him."

Jake gulped, he hadn't thought about what would happen if word got back to the kit that a Dominion agent was looking for him, let alone someone as distinguishable as himself.

"Do you want my opinion," Sonic asked in such a way that the agent knew he was going to get it either way.

Nodding into the darkness, Jake waited with apprehension for the Mobian's advice.

"Call it quits before you get hurt, because if either you or that tub of lard harm that fox, you will be answering to me. Comprende?"

Jake continued to nod, more feverishly now than before. The hedgehog was one of the few people he would take death threats from seriously.

"Good."

A small breeze found the agent's face, doing little calm his nerves. He didn't need to speak again to know the hedgehog was gone, but Jake was okay with that. Surely not many had a conversation with Sonic and lived to tell about it.

Removing himself from the table, Jake scrambled for his weapon and made a beeline for the door. He had had enough surprises for a lifetimes worth of excitement. _I don't belong here,_ he finally concluded with confidence. Johnny gave him a sly smile as he emerged from the shadows, exiting the den back into a night that now appeared to be as bright as day to his well adjusted eyes.

Jake inhaled the toxic fumes of the city down into the bottom of his lungs hoping it might cure him that darkness that had crept under his skin. Any semblance of relief was still on the horizon, but at least it was on the way.

Reaching for his vibrating comm, the agent plugged in his earpiece and answered the call.

"Agent, Julian Kintobor has requested your presence at 0800 hours," a female voice informed him before a click announced the termination of the transmission.

Laughing, all be it manically, Jake retreated towards Dominion HQ. _What have you gotten yourself into, Jake?_

* * *

__Sorry for the delay everyone. I was at Comic-Con last week and got a little side tracked. Enjoy!

Cheers,

M.D


	18. Trotting with Foxes

Fiona tilted her new badge in the light, trying to find an angle where she could catch a glimpse of her reflection. The still drying blood of a former dominion agent blended eerily well with crimson color metal, obscuring the line where her new power began and Palzwik's life ended. The red liquid that still covered her paws continued to drip onto the floor where it sparkled in stark contrast against the frosty linoleum.

Eying the growing pool, the dictator shifted his gaze back to her, "do you know why everything in this building is so stark and bright?"

The vixen didn't really care. Her fourth had been every bit as hard as the first. Part of her hoped that it would get easier because there was no doubt the number was only going to grow.

"It makes it effortless to judge accomplishment," the man went on. "On the floor I can see proof of your success, and in an hour the same blemish, or lack thereof, will show how effective my other cleaning staff is."

The fox stared back up at her new boss, searching for a way to tell him how she really felt, but she knew silence was still going to be her most effective method of communication lest she wanted to die.

"Don't worry, Fiona," Julian assured her as the elevator dinged, announcing their arrival at the top floor. "You will fit in here just fine in no time."

* * *

Fiona pulled her knees tightly into her chest as she pushed the memory from her mind. It was easy to reminisce in the past, but Fiona didn't want to fit in here, not now, not ever. Wrapping her arms around her legs, hugging them for warmth, she fought off another wave of shivers. The vixen had lost count of the hours she had spent on the roof, peering over the edge at the pavement nearly a thousand feet below.

_It would be so easy to end this right now,_ a voice whispered inside of her head.

But she knew better than to listen to it. Guilt and self-pity were beginning to overwhelm her, immune to being scrubbed away by the winter rain that fell from the heavens above. Unable to feel clean, the fox settled for numb. Damp and matted, her fur did little more than outline her bones as water trickled down her limbs. Gone was the red sheen of her velvet hair she had once been proud of. The fox looked and felt the part of a helpless, worthless creature.

Fiona glanced over the edge again, just to see if the curiosity was still there. Kintobor had not made life easy for her. In the cell she had been a prisoner, confined to a space, but out here, she was condemned to follow the orders from a mad man. Now restricted to her mind, Fiona was forced to do whatever Julian asked without question or comment. Spatial freedom hardly seemed worth the price. Tugging on the ice-cold collar, the vixen wondered how far she could be pushed.

"What the hell are you doing up here?" an all too familiar voice called out from behind.

_Wishing I was anywhere but here,_ the Fiona answered in her head, albeit in just the faintest of defeated whispers.

She wasn't supposed to leave the building, so instead the fox gravitated to the quiet, out of sight areas where few would think to look for her. Turning towards Julian, Fiona managed something barely less than a frown. The fat man was standing under an umbrella twice the size of most, fighting the wind as he strode towards her perch on the corner of the Dominion Headquarters.

"Are you immune to the cold?" the man asked he approached, abandoning his first question as his long dark red woolen trench coat flapped in the gale.

_No, I just can't feel anything anymore, _Fiona thought as she shrugged her shoulders.

"Not even your kind is meant to endure elements of this extreme," Kintobor insisted. "Come back inside before you get sick."

If she didn't know better, the man sounded concerned.

"I don't like to waste my investments," he went on. "Time, money, and research went into creating you, and I'll be damned if I let you sit up here and kill yourself."

For just a fleeting moment, she thought herself important to him. Slowly, the vixen swung her feet back down to the roof. The sound of defeat was in the slosh of the puddles beneath her boots as she followed the president back to the door.

The inside air was palatable, its touch warming against her near frozen coat of fur. Withholding the urge to shake herself dry, Fiona watched as Julian shook his now closed umbrella feverishly to rid it of the extra water, making it all the harder for her to resist her instincts.

"Would you believe that I am the only one brave enough to come up here and get you?"

_I am not sure what to believe any more._

"Not even my security staff will go near you after what you did to Palzwik."

_What I did to him? You're the one who put the knife in his back__…I just happened to be that knife. _

But who was she to complain. Fiona wanted her space, and if all of Kintobor's other pets were afraid of her, it only made it that much easier to be on her own.

"Here," the fat man said as he held out a tiny earpiece. "I am not coming up here again. From now on you come when you're called, day or night, rain or shine... And you certainly don't seem to have an issue with rain."

She marveled at the tech, it was every bit as nice as Tails' HUD, and if she had to guess, made specifically for her. It fit in her ear with alarming comfort, in a way that most human gear did not. With just the slightest thought she was listening to whatever she wanted; police chatter, emergency channels, live news, and more. The world was whispering to her but she had no desire to listen and so it faded to nothing.

"Can you hear me?" Kintobor asked in his deep voice.

Fiona nodded in response, listening to the echo caused by the fact she heard it both over the radio and in person.

"Good," the fat man responded as he stepped onto an elevator before turning back to her. "Then you can catch the next one. And while you're at it, go dry yourself off. I don't want the stench of wet fox in my office."

The vixen watched as the chrome doors shut, separating her only temporarily from the watchful gaze of an evil mastermind. Reaching for a pocket, Fiona produced her own access card, swiping it to call the elevator back to the roof. As she waited, the twitch behind her ears had finally became too much and with one quick deliberate twist, the vixen covered the walls with water.

Just one floor below she found her new home, a purposefully renovated broom closet, still chalk full of all of the normal supplies, thankfully however, including towels. Scrubbing what remained of the torrential downpour from her fur Fiona continued on her journey towards Julian's office.

His secretary knew better than to ask questions about the red fox. Like so many others in the city the woman feared Mobians. Pushing open the door, the vixen finished ringing out the last of her long flowing hair with a deft twist before tossing the rag over her shoulder. If people didn't fear her before, they would likely run at the site of her now, hair and fur alike frizzled to a frightening degree.

"Fiona, so glad you could join us."

_Us?_

The man always insisted on meeting alone. He didn't like people knowing that he had a Mobian in his service. Changing the direction of her gaze, Fiona found another man standing in the corner, dressed in full Dominion armor.

_Not this again,_ she prayed silently. _I can't keep this __up__,__ I can't keep taking out his garbage__._

"I am sure you two must remember each other."

Humans that bordered on twice her size were hard to come by, even fewer still those that sweat fear in her presence.

"Hello, Jake," the fox said hesitantly testing her voice.

Fiona couldn't remember the last time she had said a word to anyone.

"Trying out for the swim team?" the agent quipped as he removed his helmet. "I don't think the doggy paddle is very competitive these days."

She couldn't help but giggle a little, even if it was meant to hurt. No one had treated her like a person in a long time, rather just some type of machine. Although he had captured her and effectively ruined her life, there was something about this Dominion agent she liked.

"Blood is awfully hard to get out of carpet," she reminded the president.

"Funny I was about to say the same thing," Jake answered back.

"Round one didn't go so well for you last time."

"A second one won't kill me."

"I bet that's what Palzwik thought too," Fiona responded.

Kintobor hadn't seen fit to stop their banter, instead he watched with amusement as his employees berated each other.

"Palzwhik?" Jake asked confused, "How do you know…"

When it clicked into place the agent lurched forward with surprising speed, but Fiona had long been expecting that.

"Stop!" the fat man bellowed before the agent could lay a hand on her.

"She killed Palzwik!"

"I know," Julian responded. "I was there. Quite an impressive display I assure you."

"If you know then why haven't you killed this pathetic whelp."

_Whelp…_ The word stung more than she thought it would, jarring loose decade old memories.

"Because I wanted to make sure I gave you the strongest partner."

"I am sorry, Sir?"

"Wouldn't you say the winner of a fight to the death is stronger than the other, Private?"

"Partner, Sir?"

"Ah yes, I almost forgot. I am instating a new Dominion team, Foxtrot. It will supersede Echo in clearance levels, priority, and prestige in every way and I would like for you two to be its first members."

_Foxtrot, is this meant to be some kind of joke?_

The Dominion had always had five teams since its inception. Echo had been the president's elite taskforce, charged with missions the general public never knew existed. Jake's eye shimmered with delight at the notion that he just leapfrogged his way to the top echelon of black-ops. Fiona recognized the look of a dream come true, she had seen it before on countless others, but had yet to be fortunate enough to wear it herself.

"You're fuck'n kidding me right!?" Jake screamed. "Her? You want me to be partners with a fox? I can do better than this piece of shit Mobian cunt with my hands tied behind my back," the agent roared before clearing his throat. "Sir."

No one had bothered to ask Fiona how she felt about working with a brute, not that her opinion would matter to anyone in the room.

"Jake, might I recommend you change your tone when addressing your superior officer," Kintobor said in a calm collected voice.

"Sorry, Sir."

"It's not me you should be apologizing to."

Jake's face turned as white as Fiona's face turned red. The juxtaposition of their expressions right next to one another must have been a tremendous sight to behold. Julian watched with gitty anticipation for the two to wrap their minds around it.

"Sup…superior officer?" Jake finally blurted out as he looked down at the petite fox who's ears arrived at only his waist.

_So this is what Kintobor meant when he said he had a punishment for Jake far worse than death. _

The Dominion agent was beholden to his pride and by promoting him into his dreams, Julian crushed them all the harder by placing her just one step higher.

_He will have to live in my shadow,_ Fiona thought as a smile curled up her muzzle. _This could be fun._

"Certainly you didn't think I would put you in charge after that mishap with the Director did you?"

"Bu… but a Mobian?"

"The sole purpose of this task force is going to be tracking down members of the Resistance. Jake, your record is shaky at best when it comes to this matter. I want someone who can think like they do, who has my best interest at heart."

"I got her! I am one for two," Jake said motioning down at the vixen who stood next to him. "And I am getting close on Miles."

_In your dreams, _the fox thought.

"Fiona, what's your clearance rate like on the targets you have been assigned?"

"If you count the people who get in my way, over a hundred percent."

"Look at that, Jake. I found someone who is even more of perfectionist than you. What a wonderful team you will make."

The agent was not taking it well. Words were on the tip of his tongue, but it was obvious he was practicing restraint as he stuttered through nothing more than broken syllables. Fiona knew enough about boot camp to know that the respect for superiors they engrained in recruits might be enough to keep him in line, at least for the time being.

"You can't possibly expect me to be okay with this, sir."

"Of course not, private, that's the point. What I expect is results, which you have failed to provide thus far," Julian said as he tossed Jake a Dominion badge. "If you want to keep that that this time around, you're going to need to be a team player."

Fiona watched as the agent squeeze the metal shield with all of his might, flexing the material as if it were no more than plastic. The rage was clear and easy to behold, but Jake knew there was no saying what was on his mind. He was as stuck as she was, his life, his career in the hands of Julian Kintobor.

"Now, before you do something you regret, private, why don't you take your new partner down to the armory to get outfitted with some suitable gear. The two of you can check in with me nice an early tomorrow for your first assignment."

Before she could even blink, Jake had turned on his heels and headed quickly for the door. The Dominion agent was in no mood for a debate, let alone being told any more bad news. The vixen padded after him softly, doing her best to make her presence minimal. Angry people, in her experience, did irrational things, and most did not hit as hard as Jake. To make matters worse, his drooping dark eyes made it look as if he hadn't slept in weeks, only putting him that much closer to the edge.

"Jake come back!" Fiona called after him. "I didn't ask for this, you know."

She never expected a response, which is why it wasn't surprising not to receive one.

"Jake, are you okay?" she asked, now concerned for amongst other things her own safety.

"His best interest my ass. I have devoted my life to this job," the agent spat, "and yet he thinks a Mobian will be better at looking after his interest. How could you possibly know better than me?"

Fiona's paws caressed the metal collar around her neck. _I__t's easier than you think._

"You have been looking for Miles?" she asked innocently, doing her best to change the subject and break the ice.

The man grunted a response that sufficed as an affirmative.

"How close did you get?" the fox inquired, now more curious than before.

Fiona had longed to hear of the fox that let her slip through his grasp. He had evaporated into nothing, and was as good as dead to her. Yet she knew he persisted, but whether she would ever see him again remained a mystery.

"Too close," the agent admitted after calling the lift. "He made me…"

There was nothing worse than being made by the person you were hunting. Angry people did stupid things, but fear was even worse of a catalyst. Miles, however, was a different story all together. The kit would take someone as inexperienced as Jake apart piece by piece if he got too close.

"You're lucky you're still alive," she remarked as they stepped into the confined space together.

"I know," the agent admitted in a grand gesture of defeat. "I keep waking up to sounds in the middle of the night. He is watching me, I know it."

"Don't be silly," she lied, "it's just your mind playing tricks on you."

"No it isn't," Jake said in a tone of more than just dread, "no it isn't."

This was the fear she smelled on him, the part of him that he didn't show others. _But __yet he tells__ me? _She thought. Perhaps the conversation they had in her cell was a little more than a staring contest and Fiona had managed to get through to him on some level.

The agent pushed his way out of the elevator. "C'mon, boss," he snapped sarcastically, "follow me. I don't have all day for this."

Fiona followed him down the corridor and through a set of double doors. Ixis had a room full of weapons, but it paled in comparison to what Julian had referred to as the armory. Every conceivable type of killing device lined rows upon rows of shelves, all supposedly at her disposable.

The man in the center of the room eyed the odd pair for some time before putting his magazine down to greet them, "What can I help you with?"

"Rigs, this one needs gear," Jake answered as he motioned to the fox next to him. "Kintobor's orders."

"Is he blind?" the inventory manager asked.

"Would you care to ask him that yourself? Just get her whatever she wants so I can be done with this joke he playing on me."

The man sighed as he turned to the fox, summing her up in a few glances, "I don't think we have much armor in your size. Most of our recruits are a little bigger."

"That's fine," Fiona responded. "I didn't want any anyway."

Both men turned to face her with their jaws open.

"It's all too bulky, even the light stuff. I would rather be able to move than be trapped in some good for nothing tin can."

"Suit yourself then. That just leaves one of these," Rigs began as he reached down behind the counter and produced a military grade HUD that put even Tails' to shame, "and a weapon. Preferences?"

Fiona had liked her Berretta, but only because of the sentimental value it had. Looking at Jakes armor, she knew that wanted something that would make people like him afraid of her.

_He needs to respect me, if not because of __what__ I am, __then__ because he knows I can hurt him._

"I want something that will go through this," the vixen proclaimed as she tapped on the steel shell that coated the agents body.

"Hmm, I think I have another G3 around here somewhere," the man suggested as he reached for a gun that was nearly as big as she was.

"No, something smaller. Something I can use with one hand."

"I don't think you understand just how tuff that armor is, I mean the only other thing I have…" the manager said before cutting himself short and looking at Jake.

"Don't look at me. Julian said get her gear, that's what I am here to do."

The man disappeared behind rows of shelving searching high and low before returning with a dust covered case inscribed with the words Magnum Research. Inhaling deeply, he blew a thick layer of dust off the top of the plastic container.

"Here," the manger said as he pushed it in her direction, "this has been sitting on my shelf for ages and it's going to be as close as you're going to get."

Fiddling with the latch, the fox slowly opened the box, beholding a silver pistol easily twice the size of her old one. The characters .50 AE were stamped on the side and the barrel's bore alone suggested it fired around much larger than most guns.

"You won't hit the broad side of a barn with that thing, boss," Jake joked.

Hearing him laugh at her only made her more determined. She could sense the fear in him again and it seemed too coincidental that it arose as soon as this was put in front of her. Picking up the Desert Eagle, Fiona held the weapon steady with surgeon like precision as she stared down the sights. Heavy or not it was filled with power.

"Works for me," the fox replied as she tucked it safely back into its case. "I think we're all done here boys."

"She's a keeper," the man joked. "My wife shops all day."

"Laugh it up Rigs, laugh it up, at least I am back on the team. How long have you been stuck down here again?"

The inventory manager rolled his eyes before returning to his magazine, "Not all of us want to be where you are, Jake."

"Come on, boss," Jake quipped again as he headed back to the hallway.

"Fiona," the vixen responded, "My name is Fiona."

"That would be against the rules, boss, you being my superior officer and all. I am not supposed to address you by your name."

_I guess I can get used to that. _

"Now that we have got that all taken care of, I am going to get myself something to eat. Tag along if you want, but it wouldn't bother me if you returned to whatever hole you crawled out of."

Thus far, Fiona had avoided interacting with anyone, but given her new position she knew that was all going to change.

_If not now, then when?_

The mess hall was anything but messy, but what it lacked in disarray it made up for in noise. The booming voices of Dominion agents on their lunch breaks nearly shattered he ear drums. However, the room quieted down to that of a chapel as soon as Fiona stepped foot inside. All eyes were bouncing between her and Jake, trying to find a connection.

Her paw reached up to the badge that hung around her neck. Not even the winter rain had removed Palzwik's blood, which was now hardened into place beneath the grooves of an imprinted iron fist. The agent's did not let this go unnoticed.

"There it is," a man nearly as large as Jake shouted at her. "That's the one that killed Palzwik."

Some of them were on their feet now. This is why Fiona had avoided people, she knew they would never understand.

_You fools, Kintobor made me do it! It isn't me that is the problem, it's him!_

But there was no point in wasting her breath. They had been brainwashed long ago. And now they were closing in, having already blocked off the only exit.

"Leave her alone," Jake said without much authority.

"Or what? Are you going to do something about it? Do you have feelings for this one?"

"That is Julian's new pet and leader of Foxtrot. Take your pick for why messing with her is a bad idea."

"Foxtrot, you're joking me right? And let me guess you're her partner?" the man asked laughing.

Jake nodded, albeit reluctantly, "But it comes with the perk of being one pay grade higher than you lot."

"Kid, you don't even know what it means to a Dominion agent. Boys," the squad leader called out, "I think we need to show them what it means to be on a top tier team. When I am done with you two there won't be any foxes left for you to trot with, Jake."

It was like she was a kid all over again.

_Surrounded by bullies, _she sighed. _And Jake doesn't look too interested in helping._

Dropping her newly acquired weapon, Fiona reached instead for the towel sill slung over her shoulder. The largest of the four moved in to backhand her, expecting it to be a remedial task no doubt. The fox however, proved him wrong. Before his knuckles reached her face, Fiona had wrapped the towel around his wrist wrenching it sideways. Twisting harder, she locked the fabric in place pulling his arm clean out of its socket.

The man swung wildly with his other arm, doing his best to detach her, but the damp towel was locked into. Stepping around behind him, she forced his limb into the most uncomfortable spot she could find until she was able to wrap what was left of the towel's tail around his other arm. With a strung kick to his rump she sent him forward onto his face.

His whimpering cries for help sent the others to his aid immediately. She knew taking on three highly trained agents would not end for her well, but at least the crowed already seemed to be on her side as they cheered for more.

_I suppose it isn't every day they get to watch __Echo get their asses handed to them._

Before the vixen could lift another paw, a man wrapped his arms around her chest and lifted her high into the air. Another approached from the front, leaning in hard for a punch. With a small twist she ducked out of the way of the oncoming blow, leaving her captor to feel the full force of his partner's fist. Reeling backwards now, the man released her to the ground where she found a plastic lunch tray.

Swinging with all her might she struck dazed agent so hard that the sound of the smack immediately silenced the room before being replaced by bouts of laughter. With two of Echo's finest on the floor Fiona turned to the others who had no plans on quitting.

The one her left ran head long at her but did not make it far. He collided rather spectacularly with Jake's fist, doubling over in pain and gasping for air. When he made a move to get back up, Jake picked him up with just one arm and flung him onto a nearby table, removing any of the fight that was left in him.

Being the only man left on his squad the last man standing did the only thing he could do and went for his weapon. It was a dirty trick, but one that necessitated Fiona put her hands up and took a step backwards. She wasn't bullet proof and certainly didn't feel like dying if she could help it.

Just as she was beginning to accept the fact that she could die in the middle of the Dominion cafeteria, Jake stepped in-between her and the last remaining member of Echo squad. Unlike everyone else in the room he was wearing his armor. Bullets wouldn't even dent it.

"Do I have to tell you where you can shove that?" Jake asked.

The man took the hint as he stepped over his unconscious or otherwise disabled team and as he made his down the hall. Murmurs filled the room as the men whispered to one another, unsure of how to handle the new top dogs.

Kneeling down next to Echo's leader, Jake looked him in dead in the eyes before beginning, "I forgot to mention the other reason you shouldn't mess with the fox. She is better than you."

Rising back up to his full height, the iron clad Dominion agent stepped over the injured man.

"Come on, boss," Jake said again before handing her weapon back. "I came here to eat, that's what I intend on doing."

With that she followed him over to Echo's old table where several fresh trays of food still sat, untouched.

"Thanks," Fiona called out softly after him, making sure no one else would hear it.

"Don't get used to it. I have a reputation to maintain and you were jeopardizing it."

_I did over half the work, Jake._

"I used to be the small kid, the one who everyone picked on with no friends to help me," he continued reluctantly after sitting down. "Besides, I am just returning the favor."

_What favor__?_ Fiona wondered as she watched her new partner push food around his plate.

* * *

Less talking more action? Or was this okay? For those of you that looked forward to seeing how this played out, did it live up to what you had hoped or was it a let down?

Feedback is welcomed!

Cheers,

M.D


	19. Losing

Slowly was not a way in which Sonic did most things, but when it came to approaching the princess, this was exactly the route he took. To say that Sally had been through a lot would be an understatement. The squirrel's temper was short, but it was her resolve that captivated the hedgehog. Her strategy, unyielding relentlessness and maneuvering amongst a world of people her three times her age was second to none.

There she sat, staring at Nicole's screen with a feverish passion bent on nothing but justice for her fellow Mobians. Sally had been their prophet, their savior, leading them from the burning wreckage that befell the once great kingdom of acorn. The glory of their empire now lay in nothing more than ashes; amongst which were that of her and many other's family.

Julian's guards had cut down the royal family in open court while the fat man stood by and smiled. It was hard to forget such a sinister smile set to the backdrop of the Acorn castle drowning in blood. Yet, even then she knew no fear. At the ripe age of twelve she retrieved her father's weapon and started in on the human's, but Sonic knew a bad situation when he saw one. Before the Dominion agent's could even get a bead on the young Mobian, Sonic had whisked her away in the blink of an eye. He could still feel her pounding his back with her tiny fists, demanding that he do something, that he let her go back if he was too much of a coward.

But there was no saving anyone, they were already dead and returning would have accomplished nothing more than adding bodies to an already impressive pile. The King, Maximilian, would have never forgiven Sonic had he not done everything he could to save his daughter. It was no secret that he thought the hedgehog childish, but he still recognized his potential and the affections Sonic held for the princess. It had taken him years to convince her that being alive was the only way Sally could do something about Julian Kintobor and the men who worshiped him.

Together, they built the Freedom Fighters, bolstering its ranks from the rag tag Resistance group left over from the Prower family. Through determination and cunning guerilla tactics, the Freedom Fighters finally began to chip away at Kintobor's empire and while they were no longer losing, it was still an uphill battle.

Bringing his mind back to the present, Sonic slowly rapped his knuckles on the wood veneer of her office door, "Hey Sal."

It only took a moment for her to emerge from deep thought, the passive, almost innocent look on her face evaporating like water brought to a flash boil. Her eyes refused to recognize him, clearly furious with his presence. Jumping to her feet she pressed her hands into her desk, taking an authoritative stance. There was no denying that she had feelings for him too, but it came at a conflict of interest.

"Sonic! I told you not to come back here without him!"

The squirrel did her best to remain indifferent when giving orders, but the love she felt for the hedgehog only resulted in greater expectations. When he hoped for mercy and favoritism he often received the opposite, yet Sonic knew she was still reserved with him. Tails hadn't walked out on them because she had been too nice to him.

"Sal, I looked everywhere. If I can't find him, he doesn't want to be found, you know how Tails can be."

"First the prisoner, now Tails. How many people are you going to lose?"

"Hey, I just can't find them. Someone else did the losing part."

"Do you understand the gravity of this situation? What this means?"

"What makes you think I wouldn't?" the hedgehog asked razing an eyebrow.

Sally was smart, there was no doubting that, but too often she talked down to him.

"Sometimes I think your skull is to thick for its own good or that you have taken just one too many knocks on the head."

Sonic frowned, his girlfriend, if she could be called that at the moment, lacked the pleasantness most commonly associated with princesses. He knew the insults didn't come without warrant. The hedgehog could be brash, arrogant, and downright disobedient, which is why he let it go without too much rebuttal.

"Sal, what's gotten into you? Tails storms out of here never to be seen again, and now you're on me? You mind telling me what gives? I haven't seen you like this before."

Pacing even faster now the squirrel was visibly shaking with frustration, "Why can't any of you do as your told? It was a simple request wasn't it? Let the fox go. Don't let her get in the way."

"Sal, the poor kid has never been in love before. Think about everything he has been through and what something like that would feel like to him. Of course he wasn't going to let go, you should have known that."

"But he had us!" she retorted, "he had the Resistance, he doesn't need her."

"Has," Sonic corrected, "he still has us. Tails is Family Sal, you can't turn your back on family."

The glare that she shot at him was filled with shards of ice, cold and sharp.

"He made his choice, he turned his back on us first."

That wasn't how quite it appeared to Sonic, let alone felt, but he knew better than to question the squirrel when she was like this.

"Then why did you have me looking for him?"

"So he can't do anything stupid. He isn't thinking clearly and I have come too far to lose this now, and I certainly wont do it because of him and his former girlfriend."

"We," he corrected again, "We have come to far. And Sal, don't be ridiculous. If anyone will be to blame, it will be your little experiment that walked out of here."

"So now it's my fault? It's my fault that no one around here can do their damn job? He was incapacitated and drugged, yet somehow no one was able to keep an eye on him. Do you realize what happens if Julian gets his hand on him. Worse yet, if he remembers anything?"

"Imprinting was never designed to rewrite someone's memory and you know it. Rotor says it's just a matter of time before his memories start coming back in one form or another," Sonic said with a sigh as he took a seat in one of the chairs."

"And yet here you are, talking to me instead of looking for him."

"Sal, if he was somewhere where he could be found, I would have found him… both him and Tails. I figured if you were really worried you would have used the failsafe."

"I can't," she hesitated, "Rotor never quite finished it."

"Well hopefully it will keep him scared long enough for us to find him, but if I didn't know any better Kintobor has already got his hands on both of them."

"No, if that were the case we would know by now… the corridors would be lined with our corpses," the squirrel said with a sniffle.

"Don't cry, Sally. I won't let that happen… not this time, not again."

* * *

This was meant to be a small interlude to preface the next chapter, but I thought it stood rather nicely on it's own. Hopefully it will tide people over until I am done with the next chapter.

Cheers,

M.D


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